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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.

Make a worksheet

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

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitcher · arm · chip · spring · ground · plane · wind · content

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. chip — to eat
  3. wind — moving air
  4. plane — a tool
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. spring — a coil
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. chip — for betting
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. ground — the earth
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. ground — a position
  18. spring — of water
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. content — the amount
  21. spring — the season
  22. content — happy
  23. wind — moving air
  24. content — videos and posts

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