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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. cue — a hint
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — a country
  9. cue — for pool
  10. pound — a weight
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. land — ground
  15. saw — the tool
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. field — a subject
  19. cue — a signal
  20. mine — for digging
  21. saw — the tool
  22. field — for sport
  23. chair — a leader
  24. mine — an explosive

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