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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: net · snap · coach · tear · kid · pound · current · staff

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  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. kid — to tease
  2. tear — from crying
  3. snap — to click
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. net — after costs
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. staff — employees
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. net — for catching
  13. staff — employees
  14. kid — child
  15. net — in sport
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. staff — a stick
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. tear — to rip
  21. current — happening now
  22. current — electric
  23. current — of water
  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