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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. cold — not warm
  4. tube — a container
  5. field — farmland
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. firm — decided
  9. bark — to shout
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bank — for money
  12. bank — of a river
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. field — a subject
  17. tube — the underground
  18. firm — steady
  19. field — for sport
  20. scale — in music
  21. bank — for money
  22. firm — a company
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. scale — size or range

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