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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. content — happy
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bound — obliged
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. cold — not warm
  9. hand — in cards
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bound — certain
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. content — the amount
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. bound — tied together
  19. chair — a leader
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pound — a weight
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. hand — help

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