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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. pound — a weight
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. field — farmland
  12. kick — in football
  13. field — for sport
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. field — a subject
  16. club — a group
  17. snap — to click
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. shower — rain
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. club — for golf
  22. shower — to wash
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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