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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 116 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. game — wild animals
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. scale — in music
  5. spring — the season
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. spell — letters
  10. hand — in cards
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. scale — size or range
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spell — magic
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — a match
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. pound — a weight
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. hand — help
  23. spring — of water
  24. chair — a leader

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