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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 · hide · wave · perch · last · wind · cold · field

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. field — a subject
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. last — to go on
  6. perch — the fish
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pound — a weight
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. last — finally
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. field — for sport
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. last — final
  24. field — farmland

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