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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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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: rock · bat · band · firm · lean · pound · kid · fall

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. firm — a company
  3. fall — to drop
  4. firm — steady
  5. lean — to bend
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. fall — to drop
  8. firm — decided
  9. kid — to tease
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. lean — thin
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — child
  17. band — a music group
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. band — a ring
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. fall — the season
  22. rock — a stone
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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