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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: date · wind · content · net · deal · ground · board · spring

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — the amount
  6. date — the fruit
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. deal — to handle
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — the season
  15. content — happy
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — after costs
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. board — to get on
  21. board — a committee
  22. net — for catching
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. ground — a position

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