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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. wind — moving air
  6. current — happening now
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. land — a country
  12. current — of water
  13. pound — a weight
  14. club — a group
  15. hand — help
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. dip — to sink
  18. hand — in cards
  19. land — to come down
  20. current — electric
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. club — for dancing
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. club — for golf

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