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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. court — for sport
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. file — a tool
  8. present — a gift
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cell — in biology
  12. file — a document
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. court — of law
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cell — a phone
  17. scale — size or range
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. court — of a king
  20. present — the time now
  21. scale — in music
  22. present — there
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. pound — to hit hard

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