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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. ground — a position
  3. staff — a stick
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. net — in sport
  6. tear — from crying
  7. net — for catching
  8. tube — the underground
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. content — the amount
  12. staff — employees
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. net — after costs
  15. tube — a container
  16. content — happy
  17. ground — crushed
  18. chest — of your body
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. staff — employees
  21. tear — to rip
  22. chest — a box
  23. tear — from crying
  24. ground — the earth

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