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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. pound — a weight
  8. kid — to tease
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — goods
  12. branch — a division
  13. pitch — completely
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. stock — shares
  16. shower — to wash
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. fork — in a road
  22. shower — rain
  23. kid — child
  24. bat — the animal

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