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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: wind · pop · mine · rush · deal · season · object · pound

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — in sport
  3. rush — hurry
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. deal — to handle
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — soda
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. pop — to visit
  11. object — an aim
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mine — for digging
  16. wind — moving air
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. pound — a weight
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. object — to protest
  24. object — a thing

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