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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 116 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 · wind · stand · cell · net · cold · perch · rule

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. net — in sport
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. pound — a weight
  7. perch — the fish
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. net — after costs
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rule — government
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rule — a law
  16. cell — in biology
  17. stand — to bear
  18. cold — an illness
  19. net — for catching
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cold — not warm
  24. perch — for a bird

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