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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: mug · ball · deal · pound · cold · ground · band · spell

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spell — a short time
  3. pound — a weight
  4. mug — a face
  5. band — a ring
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. mug — a cup
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. mug — to rob
  11. spell — letters
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ground — a position
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. band — a music group
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. ground — the earth
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. spell — magic
  20. deal — to handle
  21. ball — a great time
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pound — to hit hard

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