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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. kick — in football
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. hand — in cards
  8. spell — a short time
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. spell — magic
  12. hand — help
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. spring — a coil
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. bark — to shout
  17. deal — to handle
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. land — to come down
  21. date — the fruit
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. hand — part of the body

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