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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — a contest
  6. field — farmland
  7. clip — a video
  8. kid — child
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. clip — for paper
  12. field — for sport
  13. pound — a weight
  14. kid — to tease
  15. fall — to drop
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. clip — to cut
  18. field — a subject
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ball — a great time
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. race — humankind
  23. fall — the season
  24. pound — to hit hard

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