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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: coach · leaves · pound · kid · ground · snap · bass · fall

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. fall — to drop
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. snap — to click
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. pound — a weight
  11. kid — to tease
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. ground — crushed
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bass — low music
  18. ground — the earth
  19. fall — the season
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. fall — to drop
  22. ground — a position
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. kid — child

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