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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. present — a gift
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. spring — the season
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. spring — of water
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. pound — a weight
  11. bulb — for light
  12. present — there
  13. row — a line
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. present — the time now
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. chip — for betting
  18. shower — rain
  19. row — to paddle
  20. spring — a coil
  21. chip — to eat
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bulb — for light

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