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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. field — farmland
  3. mug — a face
  4. mug — to rob
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. field — for sport
  10. pound — a weight
  11. perch — the fish
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. mug — a cup
  15. charge — in control
  16. charge — a price
  17. kid — to tease
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. charge — electricity
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. field — a subject
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  24. content — the amount

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