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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: current · fall · rule · land · ball · saw · pound · wound

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. current — of water
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. saw — the tool
  7. fall — to drop
  8. land — a country
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. land — to come down
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. fall — the season
  14. current — electric
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — a law
  17. current — happening now
  18. fall — to drop
  19. pound — a weight
  20. ball — a dance
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wound — an injury
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ball — a great time

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