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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. shower — to wash
  6. mate — to breed
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. shower — rain
  9. land — to come down
  10. mate — a friend
  11. net — in sport
  12. chip — to eat
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. dip — to sink
  15. mate — a partner
  16. land — a country
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. net — after costs
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. net — for catching
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. chip — for betting
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bark — to shout

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