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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: stick · content · net · rest · tube · pound · cold · suit

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. tube — a container
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. rest — what's left
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. pound — a weight
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rest — a break
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. rest — what's left
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. net — for catching
  19. tube — the underground
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. suit — to fit
  22. suit — in cards
  23. cold — not warm
  24. suit — clothes

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