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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bass — low music
  3. race — humankind
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. pound — a weight
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. content — happy
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. race — a contest
  12. land — a country
  13. race — the arms race
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. content — the amount
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. mug — a face
  19. mug — a cup
  20. land — to come down
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. mug — to rob

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