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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. rash — a series
  3. field — farmland
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. prune — to trim
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pound — a weight
  9. clip — a video
  10. rash — hasty
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. mine — for digging
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mate — a friend
  18. field — a subject
  19. clip — to cut
  20. field — for sport
  21. clip — for paper
  22. mate — to breed
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. arm — part of the body

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