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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. ground — the earth
  6. content — the amount
  7. ground — a position
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — in cards
  12. ground — crushed
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. swing — in golf
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. content — happy
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — to play on
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. fork — in a road

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