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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. squash — to crush
  2. foot — a measure
  3. squash — the sport
  4. pound — a weight
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. content — happy
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — videos and posts
  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