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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 124 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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. drill — army training
  3. hand — help
  4. land — ground
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. land — to come down
  8. wind — moving air
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. hand — in cards
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. land — a country
  16. drill — a practice
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. bulb — for light
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. drill — the tool
  22. bulb — for light
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. coach — a trainer

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