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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. ground — the earth
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. key — for a lock
  6. ground — a position
  7. land — to come down
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. tube — the underground
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. ground — crushed
  13. snap — to click
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. key — in music
  16. band — a ring
  17. land — a country
  18. bark — to shout
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. tube — a container
  21. band — a music group
  22. land — ground
  23. key — the most important part
  24. bark — of a tree

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