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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. net — in sport
  3. game — a match
  4. pound — a weight
  5. game — wild animals
  6. branch — a division
  7. degree — temperature
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — to trim
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — a country
  13. degree — from a university
  14. wound — an injury
  15. degree — an amount
  16. net — for catching
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. net — after costs
  22. prune — to trim
  23. land — ground
  24. prune — the fruit

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