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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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. sharp — clever
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. spring — of water
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. spring — a coil
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. pound — a weight
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. wind — moving air
  16. row — a line
  17. row — to paddle
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. spring — the season
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. bat — in an idiom

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