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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: spring · tube · content · race · cue · bowl · pound · field

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. field — for sport
  3. race — a contest
  4. cue — a signal
  5. pound — a weight
  6. cue — for pool
  7. tube — a container
  8. content — the amount
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. field — farmland
  12. spring — the season
  13. field — a subject
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. tube — the underground
  18. spring — of water
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. race — humankind
  21. cue — a hint
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. race — the arms race

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