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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 116 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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. cap — a lid
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. cap — a hat
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. face — to point toward
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cap — of ice
  11. land — to come down
  12. dip — to sink
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. bore — to tire
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bore — to drill
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bark — to shout
  19. drill — the tool
  20. face — to confront
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. drill — army training
  23. land — a country
  24. face — part of the head

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