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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: wind · board · pound · field · tear · mine

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. field — a subject
  3. board — to get on
  4. tear — to rip
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. wind — moving air
  7. board — a committee
  8. pound — a weight
  9. field — farmland
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. mine — for digging
  14. wind — moving air
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. field — for sport
  18. mine — an explosive

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