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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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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: perch · bound · face · cabinet · pound · wake · hand · land

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. land — ground
  3. face — to confront
  4. perch — the fish
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — in cards
  11. land — to come down
  12. bound — obliged
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bound — certain
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. face — part of the head
  23. bound — tied together
  24. land — a country

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