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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. content — happy
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. wound — an injury
  8. current — happening now
  9. current — electric
  10. band — a music group
  11. band — a ring
  12. clip — a video
  13. pop — music
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. current — of water
  16. pop — to visit
  17. wound — an injury
  18. content — the amount
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pound — a weight
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. clip — for paper

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