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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 · content · clip · pound · kick · fine · bound · hand

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. game — a match
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fine — all right
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — a video
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. hand — in cards
  14. content — the amount
  15. hand — help
  16. kick — in football
  17. bound — tied together
  18. bound — obliged
  19. fine — high quality
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bound — certain
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. hand — part of the body

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