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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. land — ground
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. swing — music
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. swing — in golf
  10. cold — not warm
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. pound — a weight
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — a country
  16. swing — to play on
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. cold — an illness

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