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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 124 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. last — finally
  4. hand — help
  5. pound — a weight
  6. content — the amount
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. last — final
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — happy
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. shower — to wash
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. hand — in cards
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. pop — music
  17. pop — to visit
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pop — soda
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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