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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. content — the amount
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. press — to push
  5. game — a match
  6. press — a publisher
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. tube — the underground
  9. content — happy
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. pop — soda
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. plane — a tool
  18. pop — to visit
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. tube — a container
  21. press — newspapers
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. pop — music

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