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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: pound · bat · wave · dip · field · wound · ground · court

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. field — a subject
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. court — for sport
  7. bat — the animal
  8. dip — to sink
  9. ground — crushed
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. field — farmland
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. court — of law
  17. wound — an injury
  18. court — of a king
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wound — an injury
  24. field — for sport

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