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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. land — ground
  3. staff — a stick
  4. bear — the animal
  5. land — a country
  6. spring — the season
  7. bear — the animal
  8. snap — to click
  9. staff — employees
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. spring — of water
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chip — to eat
  16. bark — to shout
  17. land — to come down
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. chip — for betting
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. staff — employees
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. spring — a coil

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