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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  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. pound — for dogs
  2. content — happy
  3. cap — of ice
  4. bass — low music
  5. wake — a trail
  6. lean — thin
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cap — a lid
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. content — the amount
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in biology
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. lean — to bend
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. bass — the fish
  18. cap — a hat
  19. pound — a weight
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. straw — dry grass
  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