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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. band — a music group
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. swing — in golf
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. court — of law
  8. court — for sport
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pound — a weight
  11. content — the amount
  12. court — of a king
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. swing — to play on
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. swing — music

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