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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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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: land · wake · pound · game · object · cell · mug · row

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. object — an aim
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. row — a line
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. mug — a cup
  6. land — to come down
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. game — wild animals
  10. land — ground
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. cell — a phone
  14. mug — a face
  15. object — to protest
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. game — a match
  18. mug — to rob
  19. row — to paddle
  20. object — a thing
  21. pound — a weight
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. cell — in biology
  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