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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: firm · cold · pitcher · land · pound · swing · content · bulb

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — happy
  9. bulb — for light
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. bulb — for light
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. swing — in golf
  17. firm — a company
  18. content — the amount
  19. swing — music
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. land — ground
  23. firm — decided
  24. swing — to play on

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