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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: bass · kid · wound · ground · pound · band · squash · craft

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — child
  3. wound — an injury
  4. craft — a skill
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pound — a weight
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. squash — the sport
  13. craft — boats
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. ground — the earth
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. ground — a position
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. squash — to crush

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