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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 124 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mug — to rob
  5. tube — a container
  6. band — a music group
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. pound — a weight
  12. band — a ring
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. cold — an illness
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mug — a cup
  21. tube — the underground
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. mug — a face

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