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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 120 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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. march — the month
  5. field — a subject
  6. pound — a weight
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. field — for sport
  9. bore — to tire
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — for digging
  12. tear — from crying
  13. march — the month
  14. bore — to drill
  15. tear — to rip
  16. field — farmland
  17. march — music
  18. tear — from crying

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