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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. court — for sport
  3. current — happening now
  4. stem — to come from
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. court — of law
  7. pound — a weight
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. object — a thing
  10. content — the amount
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. object — to protest
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. court — of a king
  15. content — happy
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. current — electric
  19. current — of water
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. object — an aim
  22. bark — to shout
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. bat — the animal

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