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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 116 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. tube — the underground
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. snap — to click
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. fall — to drop
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — for sport
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. game — wild animals
  14. pound — a weight
  15. tube — a container
  16. branch — a division
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. squash — to crush
  22. game — a match
  23. court — of law
  24. squash — the sport

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