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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. chest — of your body
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bass — low music
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bass — the fish
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. wound — an injury
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. chest — a box
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — child
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pound — a weight

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