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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. land — ground
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bore — to tire
  8. land — to come down
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. land — a country
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. scale — size or range
  14. bark — to shout
  15. pound — a weight
  16. bore — to drill
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. mine — belonging to me

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