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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. present — a gift
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. fork — in a road
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cell — a phone
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. pound — a weight
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. present — the time now
  15. present — there
  16. cell — in biology
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air

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