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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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Word bank
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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: season · foot · bark · face · kid · straw · plane · pound

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pound — a weight
  3. face — part of the head
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. bark — to shout
  8. face — to point toward
  9. season — in sport
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. kid — child
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. foot — a measure
  18. plane — a tool
  19. season — of the year
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. face — to confront
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. plane — an aircraft

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