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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: rash · pound · field · pitcher · wound · net · date · leaves

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. rash — hasty
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. wound — an injury
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — for sport
  9. net — in sport
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pound — a weight
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. field — farmland
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. rash — a series
  18. net — after costs
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. net — for catching
  21. date — the fruit
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pound — for dogs

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