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

Word bank: lean · band · snap · bore · pound · last · cold · straw

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to click
  6. bore — to tire
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. last — finally
  9. cold — an illness
  10. last — to go on
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. last — final
  14. lean — to bend
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bore — to drill
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. band — a ring
  19. cold — not warm
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. lean — thin
  23. band — a music group
  24. cold — the Cold War

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