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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. cold — an illness
  3. snap — to click
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. ground — crushed
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. ground — the earth
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. band — a music group
  19. cold — not warm
  20. band — a ring
  21. wind — moving air
  22. ground — a position
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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