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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. wound — an injury
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — the tool
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. tear — to rip
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. current — electric
  12. drill — a practice
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cold — an illness
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. current — of water
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cold — not warm
  23. current — happening now
  24. wind — to turn a key

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