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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: nail · rock · root · bat · tear · wake · ground · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. root — of a word
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. wake — a trail
  9. ground — the earth
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. tear — to rip
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. root — of a plant
  15. root — the cause
  16. tear — from crying
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. rock — music
  20. rock — a stone
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. bat — the animal
  23. tear — from crying
  24. content — the amount

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