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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: cell · pitcher · content · kick · net · pound · kid · fan

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. pound — a weight
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. net — after costs
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. content — happy
  11. kid — child
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. cell — in biology
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. net — for catching
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cell — a phone
  21. kick — in football
  22. content — the amount
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. net — in sport

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