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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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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 · land · kid · band · scale · board · tear · bay

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. pound — a weight
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. board — to get on
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. tear — from crying
  9. band — a music group
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. kid — child
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. scale — size or range
  20. scale — in music
  21. board — a committee
  22. tear — to rip
  23. band — a ring
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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