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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 120 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: board · can · spring · ground · dip · mine · foot · game

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. can — a tin
  3. foot — a measure
  4. board — to get on
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. mine — for digging
  9. game — wild animals
  10. can — to be able to
  11. board — a committee
  12. dip — to sink
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. spring — the season
  15. ground — a position
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. game — a match
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. ground — the earth
  22. can — a tin
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. foot — the bottom

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