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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. field — farmland
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the sport
  5. rash — hasty
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. rash — a series
  9. field — a subject
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bound — tied together
  13. last — final
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. last — to go on
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. bound — obliged
  20. field — for sport
  21. bound — certain
  22. wound — an injury
  23. last — finally
  24. rash — on the skin

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