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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 120 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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. hand — help
  10. branch — a division
  11. ground — the earth
  12. hand — in cards
  13. ground — crushed
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. tear — to rip
  21. land — to come down
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. branch — of a tree

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