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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 · wave · squash · cap · mine · foot · kid · land

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. land — to come down
  3. mine — for digging
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. land — ground
  6. cap — of ice
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. cap — a lid
  13. land — a country
  14. squash — the sport
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. squash — to crush
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. foot — a measure
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cap — a hat

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