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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. capital — money
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. fall — to drop
  7. land — a country
  8. band — a music group
  9. land — to come down
  10. march — the month
  11. band — a ring
  12. land — ground
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — a city
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — farmland
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. field — a subject
  19. march — the month
  20. fall — the season
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. fall — to drop
  23. march — music
  24. pound — a weight

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