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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. spring — a coil
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. race — a contest
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. stand — to bear
  8. pound — a weight
  9. race — the arms race
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. kid — to tease
  12. race — humankind
  13. file — a tool
  14. spring — of water
  15. file — a document
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a ring
  19. file — a line of people
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. spring — the season
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. kid — child

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