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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. degree — temperature
  3. land — to come down
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — a weight
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. tube — a container
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. firm — steady
  10. march — the month
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. chip — to eat
  14. march — the month
  15. wound — an injury
  16. tube — the underground
  17. degree — from a university
  18. firm — a company
  19. chip — for betting
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. land — ground
  22. firm — decided
  23. march — music
  24. land — a country

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