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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. ball — a dance
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chip — to eat
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. ball — a great time
  14. land — to come down
  15. spring — the season
  16. bark — to shout
  17. saw — the tool
  18. cold — not warm
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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