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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bark — to shout
  4. ground — a position
  5. spring — of water
  6. bear — the animal
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bear — the animal
  9. club — for dancing
  10. chip — for betting
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. chip — to eat
  14. club — for golf
  15. spring — the season
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. club — a group
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. spring — a coil
  24. mine — an explosive

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