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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. spell — letters
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. game — a match
  8. face — to point toward
  9. kid — child
  10. stock — goods
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. face — part of the head
  13. game — wild animals
  14. stock — shares
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — a short time
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. wind — moving air
  22. face — to confront
  23. pound — a weight
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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