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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. fine — all right
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. can — a tin
  6. can — a tin
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. game — a match
  9. can — to be able to
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fine — high quality
  12. game — wild animals
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. cold — an illness
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. cold — the Cold War

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