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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pop — to visit
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. net — in sport
  5. board — to get on
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. board — a committee
  9. content — happy
  10. pop — soda
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. net — for catching
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. content — the amount
  17. kick — in football
  18. net — after costs
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. game — a match
  21. bound — tied together
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — wild animals
  24. pop — music

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