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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 120 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. fall — to drop
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. pound — a weight
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. chest — of your body
  7. stand — to bear
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. game — a match
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. dip — to sink
  13. chest — a box
  14. stock — shares
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. chest — of your body
  20. game — wild animals
  21. stock — goods
  22. fall — to drop
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. fall — the season

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