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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. pop — soda
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. craft — a skill
  7. craft — boats
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. pop — to visit
  11. clip — to cut
  12. spring — a coil
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. pop — music
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. clip — a video
  17. net — after costs
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — the season
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. plane — a tool
  23. clip — for paper
  24. plane — in geometry

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