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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cold — an illness
  5. file — a tool
  6. snap — to click
  7. key — for a lock
  8. content — the amount
  9. cold — not warm
  10. file — a document
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. pound — a weight
  15. file — a line of people
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. content — happy
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. key — in music
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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