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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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468
Word bank
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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. game — a match
  7. drill — a practice
  8. file — a tool
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. file — a line of people
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. content — the amount
  17. drill — army training
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. drill — the tool
  21. pit — in a race
  22. pound — a weight
  23. file — a document
  24. pit — a hole

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