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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. lean — thin
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. field — for sport
  8. cell — a phone
  9. pound — a weight
  10. mate — a partner
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. land — ground
  14. lean — to bend
  15. cell — in biology
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. fall — the season
  18. mate — a friend
  19. land — a country
  20. mate — to breed
  21. fall — to drop
  22. land — to come down
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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