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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: last · bowl · spring · chest · wind · pound

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chest — of your body
  8. last — to go on
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pound — a weight
  11. last — finally
  12. spring — a coil
  13. chest — a box
  14. spring — the season
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spring — of water
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. last — final

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