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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. foot — a measure
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. track — a song
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. track — a path
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — to shout
  10. content — happy
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. pound — a weight
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. content — the amount
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. vault — a safe
  24. chair — a leader

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