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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · ground · content · mine · nail · tear · pitcher · hide

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. ground — a position
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. content — happy
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. mine — for digging
  11. ground — crushed
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. tear — to rip
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. ground — the earth
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. content — the amount
  23. march — music
  24. pitcher — a jug

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com