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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: tear · clip · land · bound · swing · pound · mug · pop

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. pop — music
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. pop — soda
  6. clip — for paper
  7. mug — to rob
  8. mug — a face
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. bound — certain
  11. swing — music
  12. tear — from crying
  13. swing — to play on
  14. land — to come down
  15. clip — a video
  16. swing — in golf
  17. tear — to rip
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pound — a weight
  21. bound — obliged
  22. mug — a cup
  23. pop — to visit
  24. tear — from crying

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