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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. present — there
  5. game — wild animals
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. ground — the earth
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bear — the animal
  12. present — a gift
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bear — the animal
  16. game — a match
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. pound — a weight
  19. present — the time now
  20. ground — crushed
  21. chair — a leader
  22. ground — a position
  23. shower — rain
  24. pound — for dogs

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