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

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. rule — a law
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. rule — government
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — final
  11. land — a country
  12. pound — a weight
  13. last — finally
  14. land — ground
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. bat — the animal
  17. land — to come down
  18. bat — for baseball

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