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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 120 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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. content — happy
  3. mate — a partner
  4. bark — to shout
  5. content — the amount
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bound — tied together
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. mate — to breed
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. mate — a friend
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. game — wild animals
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. can — a tin
  20. bound — certain
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. game — a match
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. can — to be able to

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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