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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: squash · pound · present · snap · file · cue · mine · kick

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pound — a weight
  5. cue — a signal
  6. cue — a hint
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. squash — to crush
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. present — there
  12. snap — to click
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. file — a tool
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. squash — the sport
  17. present — the time now
  18. file — a document
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. cue — for pool
  22. kick — in football
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. file — a line of people

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