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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. spring — of water
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. spring — the season
  11. shower — rain
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bat — the animal
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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