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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. chest — a box
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. spring — of water
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kick — in football
  9. file — a document
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. file — a tool
  12. spring — a coil
  13. swing — music
  14. file — a line of people
  15. hand — in cards
  16. pound — a weight
  17. hand — help
  18. spring — the season
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pass — a permit
  21. swing — to play on
  22. swing — in golf
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. pass — to succeed

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