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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. lean — thin
  3. land — a country
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pound — a weight
  6. craft — boats
  7. content — happy
  8. craft — a skill
  9. court — of law
  10. file — a tool
  11. land — to come down
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. lean — to bend
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. content — the amount
  18. land — ground
  19. bore — to tire
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. file — a document

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