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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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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: present · snap · bat · tube · pound · scale · wind · prune

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. prune — to trim
  3. present — a gift
  4. present — the time now
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pound — a weight
  7. scale — size or range
  8. wind — moving air
  9. snap — to click
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. tube — the underground
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. tube — a container
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. prune — to trim
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. bat — the animal
  21. present — there
  22. scale — in music
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. pound — for dogs

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