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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. game — wild animals
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. land — a country
  5. clip — a video
  6. stand — to bear
  7. race — humankind
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. race — a contest
  11. content — the amount
  12. pit — in a race
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. race — the arms race
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — for paper
  19. land — to come down
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. pit — a hole
  22. game — a match
  23. land — ground
  24. stand — for spectators

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