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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: current · pound · kid · rock · mate · scale · clip · bowl

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. kid — to tease
  3. mate — a partner
  4. kid — child
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. current — electric
  7. scale — size or range
  8. mate — to breed
  9. pound — a weight
  10. clip — to cut
  11. current — happening now
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. rock — music
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. scale — in music
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. current — of water
  23. rock — a stone
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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