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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. bass — low music
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. land — ground
  5. wound — an injury
  6. staff — employees
  7. key — for a lock
  8. key — the most important part
  9. wound — an injury
  10. staff — a stick
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. court — of law
  14. court — for sport
  15. land — a country
  16. staff — employees
  17. land — to come down
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. court — of a king
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bass — the fish
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. key — in music
  24. pound — to hit hard

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