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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. staff — employees
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. staff — a stick
  6. scale — size or range
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. net — for catching
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. kid — child
  12. can — a tin
  13. can — to be able to
  14. staff — employees
  15. cold — an illness
  16. net — after costs
  17. kid — to tease
  18. net — in sport
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. mark — a trace
  22. scale — in music
  23. mark — a grade
  24. can — a tin

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