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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. season — of the year
  4. land — to come down
  5. wind — moving air
  6. last — finally
  7. wind — moving air
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. last — final
  10. land — ground
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. pound — a weight
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — music
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. last — to go on
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. land — a country
  24. season — in sport

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