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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — ground
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. saw — the tool
  7. game — wild animals
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. game — a match
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. land — a country
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. chair — a leader
  20. deal — to handle
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bark — to shout
  24. deal — a big deal

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