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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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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 · wind · cell · pound · mark · cue · chair · cap

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pound — a weight
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chair — a leader
  5. cue — for pool
  6. land — to come down
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. land — a country
  12. mark — a trace
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cue — a hint
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cap — of ice
  20. mark — a grade
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cue — a signal

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