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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wind — moving air
  6. squash — the sport
  7. fork — in a road
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. squash — to crush
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — clever
  13. kid — to tease
  14. vault — a safe
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. chest — of your body
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. chest — a box
  21. kid — child
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. pound — a weight
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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