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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: present · wound · rule · chair · land · mine · pound · roll

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. land — ground
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. rule — government
  8. present — a gift
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. present — there
  11. pound — a weight
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. present — the time now
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. rule — a law
  17. chair — a leader
  18. wound — an injury
  19. roll — a cake
  20. land — a country
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. wound — an injury
  24. roll — a list

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