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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. clip — for paper
  5. game — a match
  6. face — to point toward
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. lean — to bend
  9. fork — in a road
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. pound — a weight
  12. clip — a video
  13. face — to confront
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. lean — thin
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. clip — to cut
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. game — wild animals
  23. face — part of the head
  24. racket — for tennis

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