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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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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: mine · hand · pound · racket · trunk · dip · ball · ground

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. hand — help
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. ground — a position
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. ground — crushed
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. dip — to sink
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. ball — a dance
  13. hand — in cards
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. ball — a great time
  18. ground — the earth
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. racket — for tennis

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