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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. pound — a weight
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. mine — for digging
  6. clip — a video
  7. content — the amount
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fine — all right
  10. press — a publisher
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. spell — a short time
  13. fine — high quality
  14. clip — to cut
  15. spell — magic
  16. spell — letters
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — to push
  23. perch — the fish
  24. content — happy

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