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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. kid — child
  6. rest — a break
  7. spring — a coil
  8. track — to keep track
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. rest — what's left
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. land — a country
  15. track — a path
  16. kid — to tease
  17. saw — the tool
  18. rest — what's left
  19. spring — of water
  20. bark — to shout
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. spring — the season

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