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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spring — of water
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. ground — the earth
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. ground — a position
  8. band — a music group
  9. land — to come down
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. deal — to handle
  13. spring — a coil
  14. saw — the tool
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. fork — in a road
  17. bark — to shout
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. land — a country
  20. land — ground
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. band — a ring
  24. spring — the season

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