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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. cell — in biology
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. shower — to wash
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. cell — a phone
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. game — wild animals
  14. content — the amount
  15. kick — in football
  16. shower — rain
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. scale — in music
  19. game — a match
  20. present — the time now
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. present — a gift
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. scale — size or range

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