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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 120 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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. fall — to drop
  4. kid — to tease
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pound — a weight
  7. tear — to rip
  8. scale — in music
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bear — the animal
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. squash — the sport
  18. bear — the animal
  19. pitch — completely
  20. fall — the season
  21. tear — from crying
  22. kid — child
  23. squash — to crush
  24. pitch — a sports field

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