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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. net — in sport
  6. snap — to click
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. net — for catching
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. kid — child
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. present — there
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. staff — employees
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. pound — a weight
  18. kid — to tease
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. staff — a stick
  22. present — a gift
  23. present — the time now
  24. net — after costs

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