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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. can — a tin
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. can — to be able to
  5. land — to come down
  6. cold — not warm
  7. saw — the tool
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. game — a match
  11. cold — an illness
  12. ball — a dance
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — to shout
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. land — a country
  19. land — ground
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. ball — a great time
  22. can — a tin
  23. saw — the tool
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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