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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 120 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: snap · row · chest · rock · racket · net · spring · pound

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. net — for catching
  3. spring — of water
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rock — a stone
  9. net — after costs
  10. chest — of your body
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. pound — a weight
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — a line
  15. spring — the season
  16. chest — a box
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. row — to paddle
  22. snap — to click
  23. net — in sport
  24. racket — for tennis

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