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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. land — ground
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. saw — the tool
  8. tube — a container
  9. land — a country
  10. land — to come down
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. chip — to eat
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. game — wild animals
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. tube — the underground
  23. cell — in biology
  24. saw — the tool

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