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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. snap — to click
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. cold — an illness
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — to tease
  11. rock — a stone
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pit — in a race
  14. rock — music
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pit — a hole
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. mine — for digging
  23. cold — not warm
  24. perch — the fish

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