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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: ground · present · bass · rule · kid · pound · foot · date

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. bass — the fish
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. rule — government
  7. present — a gift
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rule — a law
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bass — low music
  12. foot — a measure
  13. ground — crushed
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. ground — a position
  16. present — there
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — to tease
  20. pound — a weight
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. ground — the earth
  23. present — the time now
  24. date — the fruit

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