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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. spring — of water
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. row — to paddle
  7. spring — the season
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. stem — to come from
  16. date — the fruit
  17. scale — size or range
  18. spring — a coil
  19. mine — for digging
  20. row — a line
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. scale — in music
  23. bark — to shout
  24. scale — for weighing

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