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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: pound · bark · chest · straw · spring · stand · net · roll

  1. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bark — to shout
  5. pound — a weight
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. chest — a box
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — a coil
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. spring — of water
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. net — after costs
  17. chest — of your body
  18. roll — a cake
  19. stand — to bear
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. roll — a list
  23. net — in sport
  24. net — for catching

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