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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. mine — for digging
  5. pound — a weight
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chip — to eat
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. wound — an injury
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. wound — an injury
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. swing — to play on
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — in golf
  24. chip — in a computer

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