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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mine — for digging
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. land — to come down
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. current — electric
  8. saw — the tool
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. tear — from crying
  13. land — a country
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. snap — to click
  17. current — happening now
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. rush — hurry
  21. current — of water
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bark — to shout
  24. tear — from crying

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