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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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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: pop · pound · wake · mine · present · fork · last · band

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. pound — a weight
  3. last — finally
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. last — final
  6. fork — in a road
  7. mine — for digging
  8. band — a music group
  9. pop — soda
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. pop — music
  18. present — the time now
  19. present — there
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. pop — to visit
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. last — to go on

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