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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. game — a match
  3. wind — moving air
  4. land — a country
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wound — an injury
  9. mark — a trace
  10. ground — a position
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. ground — crushed
  13. game — wild animals
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. land — ground
  17. wind — moving air
  18. land — to come down
  19. bark — to shout
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. mark — a grade
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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