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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to click
  5. ground — a position
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. staff — a stick
  11. ground — the earth
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. ground — crushed
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — to shout
  23. staff — employees
  24. pitch — completely

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