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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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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: kick · straw · rest · spring · pound · file · march · game

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. march — the month
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. game — a match
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — a coil
  9. file — a tool
  10. rest — what's left
  11. file — a document
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. pound — a weight
  14. rest — what's left
  15. march — the month
  16. rest — a break
  17. file — a line of people
  18. spring — the season
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. kick — in football
  23. march — music
  24. game — wild animals

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