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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: land · pound · wound · mug · stock · plane · cold · object

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stock — shares
  5. mug — a cup
  6. mug — to rob
  7. cold — an illness
  8. object — an aim
  9. stock — goods
  10. wound — an injury
  11. land — a country
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. plane — a tool
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. object — to protest
  16. mug — a face
  17. cold — not warm
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. pound — a weight
  20. object — a thing
  21. land — to come down
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. land — ground
  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