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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: row · chest · pound · land · game · snap · wave · fine

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. land — to come down
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. fine — all right
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. row — to paddle
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. snap — to click
  10. fine — high quality
  11. land — ground
  12. row — a line
  13. game — wild animals
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pound — a weight
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. land — a country
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. pound — to hit hard

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