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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  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 — happy
  2. pound — a weight
  3. rush — hurry
  4. fall — to drop
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. content — the amount
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. bound — obliged
  11. present — a gift
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. field — a subject
  15. shower — rain
  16. fall — the season
  17. present — there
  18. present — the time now
  19. bound — certain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. bound — tied together
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. rush — a thrill
  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