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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. tear — to rip
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. degree — an amount
  13. mine — for digging
  14. pound — a weight
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. bass — low music
  17. wound — an injury
  18. file — a tool
  19. degree — temperature
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bass — the fish
  22. degree — from a university
  23. file — a document
  24. tear — from crying

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