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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. land — ground
  4. rash — hasty
  5. field — a subject
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. bat — the animal
  9. degree — from a university
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. degree — temperature
  12. field — for sport
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. pound — a weight
  17. field — farmland
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. degree — an amount
  23. land — a country
  24. rash — a series

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