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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. spell — a short time
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. land — ground
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. spell — letters
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. land — a country
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. ball — a dance
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. vault — a safe
  20. bark — to shout
  21. land — to come down
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. spell — magic
  24. mine — for digging

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