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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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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. land — a country
  3. march — the month
  4. pound — a weight
  5. march — music
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. hand — in cards
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ground — a position
  12. content — the amount
  13. march — the month
  14. craft — a skill
  15. hand — help
  16. land — to come down
  17. content — happy
  18. ground — crushed
  19. land — ground
  20. ball — a great time
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. ground — the earth
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. ball — a dance

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