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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: row · chest · pound · land · game · snap

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. land — a country
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. land — ground
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. chest — a box
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. game — wild animals
  13. row — a line
  14. chest — of your body
  15. pound — a weight
  16. game — a match
  17. land — to come down
  18. chest — of your body

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