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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. hand — help
  3. content — happy
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. craft — a skill
  9. root — the cause
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. hand — in cards
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. root — of a word
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. craft — boats
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. snap — to click
  22. root — of a plant
  23. pound — a weight
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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