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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: cold · pound · wound · squash · stick · bear · bowl · mate

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. mate — a partner
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. squash — to crush
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bear — the animal
  24. pound — a weight

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