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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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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  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. chip — to eat
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. row — to paddle
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. present — the time now
  8. bat — the animal
  9. chip — for betting
  10. row — a line
  11. pound — a weight
  12. content — happy
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. sharp — clever
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. present — there
  22. date — the fruit
  23. present — a gift
  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