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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. fork — in a road
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. content — happy
  11. band — a ring
  12. file — a document
  13. band — a music group
  14. face — part of the head
  15. wound — an injury
  16. face — to confront
  17. wound — an injury
  18. file — a tool
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. face — to point toward
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. file — a line of people

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