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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. root — of a word
  4. pound — a weight
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. last — to go on
  8. mug — to rob
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — what's left
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mug — a face
  13. last — final
  14. wound — an injury
  15. last — finally
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. root — of a plant
  18. root — the cause
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mug — a cup
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — for sport
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. field — a subject

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