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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. pound — a weight
  3. bank — for money
  4. board — a committee
  5. cap — a lid
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. bank — of a river
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — child
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cap — a hat
  15. bank — for money
  16. hand — help
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. board — to get on
  19. bat — the animal
  20. mine — for digging
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. cap — of ice
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. hand — in cards

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