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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 120 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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. game — a match
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pound — a weight
  6. swing — to play on
  7. game — wild animals
  8. present — a gift
  9. swing — music
  10. present — the time now
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cell — a phone
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. land — ground
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. swing — in golf
  17. content — the amount
  18. present — there
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. land — a country
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. content — happy
  24. land — to come down

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