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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. ground — the earth
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. kick — in football
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. ground — a position
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pound — a weight
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. ground — crushed
  17. cold — an illness
  18. sharp — clever

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