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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. dip — to sink
  3. game — a match
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wind — moving air
  7. game — wild animals
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. land — to come down
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a leader
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wind — moving air
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. pound — a weight
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bass — low music
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. land — a country

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