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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. field — farmland
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. ball — a great time
  5. bore — to tire
  6. field — for sport
  7. land — a country
  8. pound — a weight
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. land — ground
  12. ball — a dance
  13. pop — to visit
  14. clip — a video
  15. pop — music
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. field — a subject
  18. pop — soda
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. saw — the tool
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. bore — to drill
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — for paper

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