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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 116 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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bore — to drill
  4. club — for golf
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. tear — to rip
  8. charge — a price
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bark — to shout
  11. clip — to cut
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bat — the animal
  14. club — a group
  15. club — for dancing
  16. charge — electricity
  17. land — to come down
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. clip — a video
  20. tear — from crying
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. charge — in control
  24. land — a country

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