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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: wound · kid · game · snap · pitcher · lash · pound · rock

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. kid — child
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. game — a match
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. rock — a stone
  7. kid — to tease
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. rock — music
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. snap — to click
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. game — wild animals
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. pound — a weight
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. pound — to hit hard

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