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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. content — happy
  4. kick — in football
  5. game — wild animals
  6. cue — a hint
  7. bound — tied together
  8. game — a match
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. fall — to drop
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. fall — to drop
  13. content — the amount
  14. cue — a signal
  15. cue — for pool
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. pound — a weight
  18. bound — obliged
  19. fall — the season
  20. bound — certain
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. row — to paddle
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. row — a line

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