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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 120 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. land — ground
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pop — music
  10. land — a country
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pop — soda
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. wound — an injury
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. land — to come down
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. stock — shares
  23. stock — goods
  24. pop — to visit

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