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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. bat — the animal
  5. club — a group
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. rash — hasty
  8. pound — a weight
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cell — in biology
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. fine — high quality
  15. fine — all right
  16. spring — of water
  17. cell — a phone
  18. rash — a series
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. club — for dancing
  24. club — for golf

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