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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pound — a weight
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. mark — a trace
  7. content — the amount
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. content — happy
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. hand — in cards
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mark — a grade
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. content — videos and posts

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