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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: roll · row · stick · mine · chest · pound · racket · land

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. roll — a list
  3. land — a country
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. land — to come down
  6. chest — of your body
  7. land — ground
  8. row — a line
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. mine — for digging
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. pound — a weight
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. row — to paddle
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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