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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. staff — employees
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. pound — a weight
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. staff — employees
  13. game — a match
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. staff — a stick
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — to eat
  20. plane — a tool
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. perch — the fish

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