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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cold — not warm
  4. date — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bear — the animal
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rest — what's left
  10. content — happy
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pop — music
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. rest — a break
  18. bear — the animal
  19. pound — a weight
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pop — soda
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pop — to visit
  24. rest — what's left

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