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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. track — a song
  3. current — happening now
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. current — of water
  6. roll — a cake
  7. pound — a weight
  8. current — electric
  9. track — to keep track
  10. cell — a phone
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. track — a path
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. land — to come down
  16. roll — a list
  17. land — a country
  18. cell — in biology

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