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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. face — to confront
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. spell — magic
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. face — to point toward
  10. land — a country
  11. spell — letters
  12. land — to come down
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. face — part of the head
  15. chip — for betting
  16. spell — a short time
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bark — to shout
  19. fork — in a road
  20. sharp — clever
  21. content — the amount
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — to eat
  24. content — happy

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