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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bay · kid · tear · spring · toast · pound

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. 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. pound — a weight
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. tear — to rip
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. kid — to tease
  6. spring — of water
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tear — from crying
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. kid — child
  11. toast — bread
  12. spring — the season
  13. tear — from crying
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. 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