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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: season · snap · cap · pound · court · band · tear · rash

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. tear — to rip
  5. court — for sport
  6. season — in sport
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. season — of the year
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. cap — of ice
  11. court — of law
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cap — a lid
  14. band — a ring
  15. rash — a series
  16. band — a music group
  17. snap — to click
  18. rash — hasty
  19. cap — a hat
  20. court — of a king
  21. pound — a weight
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. band — a rubber band

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