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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — the amount
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. game — wild animals
  5. mate — a partner
  6. kid — child
  7. mate — a friend
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pound — a weight
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. mate — to breed
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — in sport
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. rock — a stone
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. content — happy
  24. rock — music

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