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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 116 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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wound — an injury
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. prune — to trim
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pound — a weight
  18. bat — the animal

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