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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. season — in sport
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. net — in sport
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. club — a group
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. club — for dancing
  10. spring — of water
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. net — after costs
  14. shower — rain
  15. season — of the year
  16. shower — to wash
  17. club — for golf
  18. spring — a coil
  19. snap — to click
  20. clip — a video
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. net — for catching
  23. spring — the season
  24. pound — to hit hard

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