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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. land — ground
  3. root — the cause
  4. root — of a word
  5. pound — a weight
  6. bark — to shout
  7. drill — army training
  8. net — after costs
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. land — a country
  11. root — of a plant
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. net — for catching
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. net — in sport
  19. content — the amount
  20. land — to come down
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. content — happy
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. pound — to hit hard

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