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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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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: pit · content · ball · fall · mine · pound · hand · staff

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. staff — employees
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. mine — for digging
  7. fall — to drop
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. content — happy
  10. pit — a hole
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. staff — employees
  19. fall — the season
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. pit — in a race
  23. staff — a stick
  24. pound — a weight

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