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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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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. content — the amount
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. game — wild animals
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. content — happy
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. mine — for digging
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. hand — in cards
  18. game — a match

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