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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: cold · ruler · tear · nail · wake · pound · kid · content

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. content — happy
  5. pound — a weight
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kid — to tease
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kid — child
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. tear — to rip
  20. content — the amount
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — an illness

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