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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kid — to tease
  4. land — a country
  5. rest — a break
  6. dip — to sink
  7. content — the amount
  8. rest — what's left
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. wound — an injury
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. content — happy
  13. kid — child
  14. kick — in football
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. pound — a weight
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. rest — what's left
  24. kick — with a leg

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