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

Word bank: mark · prune · content · hand · chair · bat · mate · pound

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. mate — a friend
  3. pound — a weight
  4. hand — help
  5. bat — the animal
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. mark — a trace
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. mate — a partner
  14. hand — in cards
  15. chair — a leader
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. mark — a grade
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mate — to breed
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. content — happy
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. pound — for dogs

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