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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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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 · bat · kid · net · season · prune · temple · chair

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. net — in sport
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. net — after costs
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. pound — a weight
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. kid — to tease
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chair — a leader
  17. kid — child
  18. net — for catching
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. season — in sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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