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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: kid · straw · staff · club · pound · game · root · date

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. pound — for dogs
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. staff — a stick
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. kid — child
  6. game — a match
  7. root — of a word
  8. staff — employees
  9. date — the fruit
  10. kid — to tease
  11. club — for dancing
  12. club — a group
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. root — of a plant
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. club — for golf
  18. game — wild animals
  19. root — the cause
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. staff — employees
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  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