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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: pound · rule · chest · ground · cold · racket

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. pound — a weight
  3. ground — the earth
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rule — government
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. cold — an illness
  10. ground — a position
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cold — not warm
  15. ground — crushed
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. chest — a box
  18. rule — a law

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