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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bat — the animal
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. mate — to breed
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. court — of a king
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — a weight
  11. face — part of the head
  12. court — for sport
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. court — of law
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. mate — a friend
  19. face — to confront
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. content — happy
  23. face — to point toward
  24. pound — to hit hard

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