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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. can — a tin
  3. can — to be able to
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bass — low music
  7. row — a line
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. march — music
  10. pound — a weight
  11. rush — hurry
  12. snap — to click
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. bass — the fish
  21. row — to paddle
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. can — a tin
  24. cold — not warm

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