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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: content · ground · pound · kid · wake · scale · perch · rule

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. ground — a position
  3. wake — a trail
  4. kid — to tease
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. ground — crushed
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. kid — child
  10. scale — size or range
  11. pound — a weight
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. rule — government
  15. ground — the earth
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. content — the amount
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. rule — a law
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. scale — in music
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. scale — for weighing

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