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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a ring
  7. chip — for betting
  8. pound — a weight
  9. craft — a skill
  10. land — a country
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. craft — boats
  13. land — to come down
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. land — ground
  17. bark — to shout
  18. chip — in a computer

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