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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: perch · kid · pound · rash · jam · ground · shower · net

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. net — after costs
  3. shower — rain
  4. ground — the earth
  5. kid — to tease
  6. ground — crushed
  7. perch — the fish
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. ground — a position
  11. pound — a weight
  12. shower — to wash
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. net — for catching
  19. rash — a series
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. rash — hasty
  24. net — in sport

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