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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. ground — crushed
  3. shower — rain
  4. land — a country
  5. row — a line
  6. ground — a position
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pound — a weight
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a path
  13. ground — the earth
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. land — ground
  17. track — a song
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. land — to come down
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. row — to paddle

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