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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: band · ground · bass · shower · bear · kid · sharp · pound

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. kid — child
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. bear — the animal
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. bass — the fish
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bass — low music
  9. bear — the animal
  10. shower — to wash
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. ground — a position
  13. band — a music group
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. sharp — clever
  16. kid — to tease
  17. shower — rain
  18. ground — the earth
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. band — a ring
  22. pound — a weight
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. sharp — with an edge

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