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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. last — final
  4. field — for sport
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wake — a trail
  7. shower — to wash
  8. race — the arms race
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. race — a contest
  11. shower — rain
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. foot — a measure
  14. bark — to shout
  15. last — finally
  16. pound — a weight
  17. field — a subject
  18. last — to go on
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. field — farmland
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. race — humankind
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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