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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 116 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: cold · last · kick · perch · mouse · band · pop · pound

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. last — to go on
  4. pound — a weight
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. band — a music group
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pop — soda
  12. kick — in football
  13. pop — music
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. pop — to visit
  17. perch — the fish
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. cold — not warm
  20. last — final
  21. band — a ring
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. last — finally
  24. mouse — 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