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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. ground — crushed
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. pound — a weight
  6. track — a path
  7. track — to keep track
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. spell — magic
  10. clip — for paper
  11. track — a song
  12. clip — a video
  13. ground — a position
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. stock — goods
  17. dip — to sink
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. snap — to click
  20. spell — letters
  21. clip — to cut
  22. stock — shares
  23. ground — the earth
  24. spell — a short time

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