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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: saw · net · bat · fine · pound · kick · cold · mark

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cold — not warm
  4. net — after costs
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. net — in sport
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fine — all right
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. pound — a weight
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mark — a grade
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. fine — high quality
  22. net — for catching
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. mark — a trace

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