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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. mate — a partner
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mate — a friend
  9. rest — what's left
  10. present — a gift
  11. wound — an injury
  12. land — a country
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. mate — to breed
  15. rest — what's left
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. land — ground
  18. rest — a break
  19. present — there
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. land — to come down
  23. bark — to shout
  24. present — the time now

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