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

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. net — after costs
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. net — for catching
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. bass — the fish
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. net — in sport
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pound — a weight
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bass — low music
  18. tear — from crying

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