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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. content — happy
  6. mug — a cup
  7. degree — an amount
  8. mug — a face
  9. saw — the tool
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. content — the amount
  13. game — a match
  14. saw — the tool
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. file — a tool
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — from a university
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mug — to rob
  22. file — a document
  23. pound — a weight
  24. game — wild animals

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