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

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. tear — from crying
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. perch — the fish
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. ground — the earth
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. ground — crushed
  16. land — ground
  17. land — to come down
  18. bark — to shout
  19. ground — a position
  20. land — a country
  21. tear — to rip
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. mine — for digging
  24. tear — from crying

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