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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. spring — of water
  3. wake — a trail
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — the season
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. chest — of your body
  9. rest — a break
  10. prune — to trim
  11. land — ground
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. land — a country
  14. wound — an injury
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. bark — to shout
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. rest — what's left
  20. prune — to trim
  21. land — to come down
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. wound — an injury
  24. rest — what's left

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