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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. field — farmland
  4. land — to come down
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. stem — to come from
  9. mine — for digging
  10. land — a country
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. field — a subject
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. swing — to play on
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. field — for sport
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. bark — to shout
  24. ruler — for measuring

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