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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: hand · lean · straw · land · squash · pound · spell · ground

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. land — ground
  6. ground — the earth
  7. spell — magic
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. squash — to crush
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. squash — the sport
  13. ground — crushed
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. hand — help
  17. land — a country
  18. lean — to bend
  19. hand — in cards
  20. spell — a short time
  21. spell — letters
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. lean — thin
  24. land — to come down

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