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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. rash — hasty
  11. clip — a video
  12. pound — a weight
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. bat — the animal
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. pop — to visit
  22. rash — a series
  23. pop — music
  24. pop — soda

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