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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 120 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: wake · chest · pound · bay · present · land · bore · degree

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wake — a trail
  4. present — a gift
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — a country
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. degree — from a university
  10. present — the time now
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. land — ground
  14. bore — to drill
  15. bore — to tire
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. present — there
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chest — a box
  21. degree — an amount
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — a weight
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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