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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. land — to come down
  4. content — happy
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. land — ground
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. field — for sport
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. pound — a weight
  12. root — of a word
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. vault — a safe
  15. content — the amount
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. field — farmland
  18. land — a country
  19. field — a subject
  20. root — the cause
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. root — of a plant
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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