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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. kid — to tease
  5. dip — to sink
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. land — a country
  9. kid — child
  10. bound — tied together
  11. land — to come down
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. wound — an injury
  15. race — humankind
  16. land — ground
  17. field — a subject
  18. pound — a weight
  19. bound — obliged
  20. field — farmland
  21. field — for sport
  22. bound — certain
  23. race — a contest
  24. race — the arms race

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