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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 116 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 · drill · firm · land · pound · bear · stick · shower

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. kid — child
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. drill — a practice
  9. pound — a weight
  10. land — to come down
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. firm — steady
  13. shower — rain
  14. bear — the animal
  15. firm — a company
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. firm — decided
  18. drill — army training
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. bear — the animal
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. drill — the tool

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