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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: mate · wake · pop · cell · pound · last · content · cap

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. last — final
  3. last — to go on
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. mate — to breed
  6. pop — to visit
  7. content — happy
  8. cell — a phone
  9. wake — a trail
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cap — of ice
  12. pop — soda
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cap — a lid
  15. last — finally
  16. mate — a partner
  17. mate — a friend
  18. content — the amount
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. cap — a hat
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. pound — a weight
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. cell — in biology

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