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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. fine — high quality
  3. spring — of water
  4. degree — from a university
  5. land — a country
  6. wound — an injury
  7. land — ground
  8. rock — music
  9. wound — an injury
  10. land — to come down
  11. rock — a stone
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. spring — the season
  16. fine — all right
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. squash — to crush
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. spring — a coil
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bark — to shout

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