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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. game — a match
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. game — wild animals
  7. pound — a weight
  8. lean — thin
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — the sport
  11. squash — to crush
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. lean — to bend
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. present — a gift
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. present — the time now
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. present — there
  24. squash — the vegetable

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