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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 · chest · court · lash · drill · land · perch · cell

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. drill — the tool
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. land — a country
  6. drill — a practice
  7. court — of a king
  8. drill — army training
  9. land — ground
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. chest — of your body
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. land — to come down
  15. cell — in biology
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. chest — a box
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. perch — the fish
  20. chest — of your body
  21. court — of law
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. cell — a phone
  24. court — for sport

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