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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. land — to come down
  3. wax — to grow
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. stand — to bear
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. pound — a weight
  13. mate — a friend
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mate — a partner
  17. wound — an injury
  18. kick — in football
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. mate — to breed
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. wax — in the ear

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