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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 116 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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. club — for golf
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. content — the amount
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. swing — in golf
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. content — happy
  14. club — a group
  15. kid — to tease
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. swing — music
  19. club — for dancing
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. stem — to come from
  22. swing — to play on
  23. pound — a weight
  24. shower — rain

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