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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. field — farmland
  3. wound — an injury
  4. land — a country
  5. drill — a practice
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. drill — army training
  9. field — for sport
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. pound — a weight
  14. field — a subject
  15. rash — a series
  16. band — a ring
  17. rash — hasty
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. land — ground
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. band — a music group
  22. drill — the tool
  23. land — to come down
  24. pound — to hit hard

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