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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a music group
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. land — a country
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. cell — a phone
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. cell — in biology
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — in sport
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. ball — a great time
  20. ball — a dance
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. bark — to shout
  23. band — a ring
  24. land — to come down

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