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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 · drill · cold · racket · club · plane · ruler · tear

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. club — for golf
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. plane — a tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cold — not warm
  9. club — a group
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. club — for dancing
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. drill — the tool
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. drill — army training
  20. tear — to rip
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ruler — for measuring

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