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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. ground — the earth
  3. race — the arms race
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. race — humankind
  6. content — happy
  7. field — a subject
  8. rest — a break
  9. content — the amount
  10. pound — a weight
  11. field — farmland
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. rest — what's left
  16. kid — child
  17. ground — a position
  18. race — a contest
  19. field — for sport
  20. rock — a stone
  21. kid — to tease
  22. ground — crushed
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rock — to move gently

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