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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. pound — a weight
  4. degree — an amount
  5. swing — in golf
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cap — of ice
  11. swing — music
  12. cap — a hat
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. kid — to tease
  15. swing — to play on
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. cap — a lid
  21. bat — the animal
  22. kid — child
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. degree — from a university

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