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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: content · bat · dip · bass · face · pound · kick · chip

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. content — the amount
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. face — part of the head
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. pound — a weight
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. face — to confront
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. bat — the animal
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. content — happy
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. dip — to sink
  17. bass — the fish
  18. chip — to eat
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. chip — for betting
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. face — to point toward
  23. kick — in football
  24. bat — for baseball

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