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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 120 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 · cell · land · bear · rule · spell · arm · march

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. cell — in biology
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. cell — a phone
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — a law
  8. march — music
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. land — ground
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. spell — a short time
  14. bear — the animal
  15. land — a country
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. bear — the animal
  21. spell — letters
  22. land — to come down
  23. spell — magic
  24. cell — in a prison

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