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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. present — there
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. net — for catching
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. net — in sport
  8. pound — a weight
  9. kid — to tease
  10. net — after costs
  11. bass — the fish
  12. present — the time now
  13. ground — crushed
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. kick — in football
  17. ground — the earth
  18. kid — child
  19. ground — a position
  20. perch — the fish
  21. present — a gift
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. pound — to hit hard

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