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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. content — the amount
  3. scale — in music
  4. land — to come down
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. content — happy
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. chest — a box
  10. scale — size or range
  11. chest — of your body
  12. tear — from crying
  13. firm — decided
  14. ball — a great time
  15. firm — steady
  16. land — a country
  17. chest — of your body
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. pound — a weight
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. land — ground
  23. firm — a company
  24. pound — for dogs

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