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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. field — farmland
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. wound — an injury
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. pound — a weight
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. file — a document
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. bore — to drill
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. field — a subject
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bore — to tire
  18. land — to come down
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. land — a country
  21. field — for sport
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. dip — to sink
  24. file — a tool

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