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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. land — a country
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. field — a subject
  6. spell — magic
  7. land — ground
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. board — to get on
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — for sport
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. bark — to shout
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. spell — a short time
  22. land — to come down
  23. board — a committee
  24. spell — letters

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