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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pop — music
  4. bark — to shout
  5. pop — to visit
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. snap — to click
  8. squash — to crush
  9. game — wild animals
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. content — the amount
  16. pop — soda
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. content — happy
  20. game — a match
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. squash — the sport
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. degree — an amount

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