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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. land — ground
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. face — part of the head
  5. cap — of ice
  6. mate — to breed
  7. chip — to eat
  8. land — to come down
  9. mate — a partner
  10. cap — a hat
  11. ground — crushed
  12. cap — a lid
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. face — to point toward
  20. chip — for betting
  21. land — a country
  22. mate — a friend
  23. face — to confront
  24. ground — the earth

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