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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 116 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 not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. content — the amount
  4. wound — an injury
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. snap — to click
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. content — happy
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pound — a weight
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cold — the Cold War

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