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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: swing · race · content · pop · pound · bat · bowl · bulb

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bulb — for light
  4. pop — to visit
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. swing — in golf
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — music
  10. race — humankind
  11. bulb — for light
  12. content — the amount
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. race — a contest
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. pop — music
  19. race — the arms race
  20. bat — the animal
  21. pound — a weight
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. pop — soda

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