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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: rest · ground · last · perch · cell · land · pass · pound

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. cell — a phone
  4. rest — a break
  5. land — to come down
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — a weight
  8. ground — the earth
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. rest — what's left
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. pass — a permit
  15. rest — what's left
  16. last — final
  17. perch — the fish
  18. last — finally
  19. ground — a position
  20. last — to go on
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. ground — crushed
  24. land — a country

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