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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. pound — a weight
  4. net — after costs
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. tube — a container
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. content — happy
  9. mark — a trace
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — for catching
  12. tube — the underground
  13. drill — the tool
  14. chest — a box
  15. drill — a practice
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. content — the amount
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. chest — of your body
  22. drill — army training
  23. mark — a grade
  24. perch — for a bird

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