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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 · ground · hand · wind · pop · cold · foot · bowl

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. pound — a weight
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. pop — soda
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pop — to visit
  8. foot — a measure
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. cold — not warm
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. wind — moving air
  14. ground — a position
  15. hand — help
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. pop — music
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. ground — crushed
  23. hand — in cards
  24. cold — an illness

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