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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bound — certain
  4. object — an aim
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. rash — a series
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. bat — the animal
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. object — a thing
  11. bound — obliged
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. object — to protest
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bound — tied together
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pound — a weight
  20. rash — hasty
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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