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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pop — music
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. kick — in football
  7. pound — a weight
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. file — a tool
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. spring — the season
  15. file — a line of people
  16. snap — to click
  17. bass — low music
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spring — of water
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. bass — the fish
  23. file — a document
  24. kick — with a leg

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