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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. pound — a weight
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. cold — an illness
  10. content — the amount
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. hand — help
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. content — happy
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. chair — a leader
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rush — hurry
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. hand — in cards
  24. pound — to hit hard

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