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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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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: mate · fork · ground · pound · spring · kid · pop · drill

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. pound — a weight
  3. ground — a position
  4. kid — child
  5. drill — the tool
  6. drill — a practice
  7. ground — the earth
  8. spring — of water
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pop — music
  13. fork — in a road
  14. kid — to tease
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mate — a friend
  17. pop — soda
  18. spring — the season
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. ground — crushed
  21. drill — army training
  22. pop — to visit
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. mate — to breed

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