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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. field — farmland
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. field — for sport
  7. mate — a friend
  8. kick — in football
  9. bound — certain
  10. row — a line
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bound — tied together
  16. field — a subject
  17. bound — obliged
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. row — to paddle
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. pound — a weight
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. mate — to breed

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