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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: pound · snap · cell · bark · leaves · wound · ground · cue

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. cell — a phone
  3. ground — the earth
  4. wound — an injury
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. ground — crushed
  8. pound — a weight
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. cue — a signal
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. snap — to click
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cue — a hint
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. ground — a position
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cue — for pool
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. leaves — lets stay

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