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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · bear · cabinet · pound · tear · pitch

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. bear — the animal
  4. content — the amount
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bear — the animal
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. pound — a weight
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. tear — to rip
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. pitch — completely
  18. cabinet — ministers

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