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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: scale · bear · racket · content · pound · drill · clip · roll

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. content — happy
  3. bear — the animal
  4. roll — a list
  5. content — the amount
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. drill — army training
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. bear — the animal
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. drill — a practice
  16. scale — size or range
  17. drill — the tool
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. scale — in music
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. pound — a weight
  24. content — videos and posts

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