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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: kid · wound · snap · march · fine · pound · club · stick

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. snap — to click
  3. club — a group
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. fine — all right
  6. wound — an injury
  7. march — music
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. club — for dancing
  11. club — for golf
  12. pound — a weight
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. kid — child
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. fine — high quality
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. march — the month
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. march — the month
  24. wound — an injury

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