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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. mate — a friend
  5. spring — of water
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. mate — a partner
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. rule — a law
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. mate — to breed
  14. content — the amount
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bark — to shout
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. hand — help
  23. content — happy
  24. rule — government

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