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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rock — music
  4. band — a music group
  5. race — the arms race
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. cold — not warm
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. band — a ring
  10. pound — a weight
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. rock — a stone
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. race — humankind
  15. content — the amount
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. wound — an injury
  20. content — happy
  21. race — a contest
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. kick — in football

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