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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. chest — a box
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bear — the animal
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. club — for dancing
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bear — the animal
  10. club — a group
  11. pop — soda
  12. chest — of your body
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pop — to visit
  16. pop — music
  17. clip — for paper
  18. chest — of your body
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — the fruit
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. club — for golf
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. clip — a video

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