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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 124 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a match
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. spring — of water
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. pound — a weight
  8. season — in sport
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. spring — the season
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. spring — a coil
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. land — a country
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. stand — to bear
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. season — of the year
  22. bark — to shout
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pitch — completely

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