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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. cold — not warm
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bark — to shout
  11. cap — of ice
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. land — to come down
  17. object — to protest
  18. cue — a hint
  19. kid — child
  20. cap — a lid
  21. object — a thing
  22. cue — a signal
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cap — a hat

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