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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. land — to come down
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. content — happy
  6. spell — letters
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. land — a country
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bark — to shout
  21. spell — a short time
  22. content — the amount
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. spell — magic

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