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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — a position
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. land — to come down
  5. bore — to drill
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. bore — to tire
  10. ground — the earth
  11. race — a contest
  12. shower — rain
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. land — ground
  15. pound — a weight
  16. race — humankind
  17. band — a ring
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. shower — to wash
  21. land — a country
  22. race — the arms race
  23. wake — a trail
  24. band — a music group

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