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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. snap — to click
  3. bear — the animal
  4. row — to paddle
  5. press — to push
  6. field — a subject
  7. craft — boats
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. bear — the animal
  10. pound — a weight
  11. row — a line
  12. field — farmland
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. press — a publisher
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. craft — a skill
  21. press — newspapers
  22. band — a ring
  23. field — for sport
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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