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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: net · spring · cold · snap · scale · rash · pound · content

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. scale — size or range
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. spring — of water
  8. net — after costs
  9. rash — hasty
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. net — for catching
  12. cold — an illness
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. spring — a coil
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pound — a weight
  19. scale — in music
  20. content — happy
  21. cold — not warm
  22. net — in sport
  23. rash — a series
  24. snap — to click

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