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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. bat — the animal
  3. land — a country
  4. content — happy
  5. content — the amount
  6. rush — hurry
  7. row — a line
  8. cap — of ice
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. land — ground
  11. cap — a lid
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cap — a hat
  14. pound — a weight
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. land — to come down

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