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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. content — the amount
  3. game — wild animals
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. last — final
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. last — to go on
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cold — not warm
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. pound — a weight
  17. last — finally
  18. press — to push
  19. content — happy
  20. press — newspapers
  21. press — a publisher
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — a match

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