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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. staff — a stick
  3. spell — magic
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bark — to shout
  6. net — for catching
  7. land — ground
  8. net — after costs
  9. land — a country
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — letters
  12. land — to come down
  13. ground — crushed
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — employees
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. net — in sport

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