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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: spell · cold · pound · mark · present · kid · bay · squash

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. cold — an illness
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — a short time
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. mark — a trace
  8. squash — to crush
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. spell — letters
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. squash — the sport
  13. present — a gift
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. kid — to tease
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. cold — not warm
  18. present — there
  19. mark — a grade
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. present — the time now
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. kid — child

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