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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 120 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. content — the amount
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pound — a weight
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. rash — hasty
  9. pit — a hole
  10. drill — army training
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. bound — certain
  13. drill — a practice
  14. pit — in a race
  15. content — happy
  16. last — final
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bound — tied together
  22. bound — obliged
  23. rash — a series
  24. last — to go on

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