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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: calf · last · content · bowl · pound · kid · chest · wake

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. last — final
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pound — a weight
  10. kid — to tease
  11. content — happy
  12. kid — child
  13. last — finally
  14. wake — a trail
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. chest — a box
  20. content — the amount
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. last — to go on
  24. pound — to hit hard

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