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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. saw — the tool
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. pound — a weight
  10. spring — a coil
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. spring — the season
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. spring — of water
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. content — the amount
  22. saw — the tool
  23. perch — the fish
  24. pound — to hit hard

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