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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 120 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 water is too ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. court — for sport
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. row — a line
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. cold — an illness
  12. court — of law
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. land — a country
  19. land — ground
  20. row — to paddle
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. court — of a king
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. land — to come down

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