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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. land — to come down
  3. shower — to wash
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. last — final
  8. fork — in a road
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mate — a friend
  11. last — finally
  12. shower — rain
  13. chest — of your body
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. stand — to bear
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. land — ground
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. last — to go on
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. mate — to breed
  23. bark — to shout
  24. land — a country

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