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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. band — a ring
  4. prune — to trim
  5. face — to point toward
  6. band — a music group
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. mate — a friend
  10. game — wild animals
  11. mate — a partner
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. prune — to trim
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. branch — a division
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. pound — a weight
  21. face — to confront
  22. game — a match
  23. mate — to breed
  24. face — part of the head

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