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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. 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 — to hit hard
  2. tube — the underground
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. pound — a weight
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. field — farmland
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. stock — shares
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. stock — goods
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. swing — to play on
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. tube — a container
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. kick — in football
  24. 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