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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: game · spring · pound · hand · bowl · content · rush · chip

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hand — in cards
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. content — the amount
  5. spring — a coil
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. pound — a weight
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. rush — hurry
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. spring — the season
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. chip — to eat
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. hand — help
  21. spring — of water
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. game — a match
  24. chip — for betting

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