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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. bark — to shout
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. roll — a list
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. roll — a cake
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. tear — to rip
  12. mine — for digging
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. clip — to cut
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. tear — from crying
  18. clip — for paper
  19. stand — to bear
  20. clip — a video
  21. pound — a weight
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. stand — for spectators

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