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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. rock — music
  5. game — a match
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. pound — a weight
  8. ball — a great time
  9. ball — a dance
  10. cold — not warm
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. spring — the season
  13. mug — to rob
  14. game — wild animals
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. mug — a face
  21. mug — a cup
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. rock — a stone

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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