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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  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. land — ground
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. net — in sport
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. spell — letters
  9. spell — magic
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. mine — for digging
  14. rush — hurry
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. spell — a short time
  17. dip — to sink
  18. net — for catching
  19. land — a country
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. net — after costs
  22. rush — to hurry
  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