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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: pound · chest · racket · march · scale · wind · date · land

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. march — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. march — the month
  6. wind — moving air
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. date — the fruit
  9. scale — size or range
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. march — the month
  12. scale — in music
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. land — a country
  15. chest — a box
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. land — ground
  19. land — to come down
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. chest — of your body
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pound — a weight

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