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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mine — for digging
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. land — a country
  8. bark — to shout
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. tear — to rip
  11. shower — to wash
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. march — the month
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. bore — to drill
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. land — to come down
  18. march — the month
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. fork — in a road
  21. march — music
  22. tear — from crying
  23. shower — rain
  24. mine — belonging to me

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