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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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Word bank
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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: cap · chest · wind · rush · bark · lie · season · pound

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. season — in sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — to recline
  10. cap — of ice
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. chest — of your body
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. season — of the year
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rush — hurry
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cap — a lid
  22. chest — a box
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. rush — a thrill

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