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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 112 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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. land — to come down
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. present — the time now
  8. present — a gift
  9. bark — to shout
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — finally
  13. land — a country
  14. cell — in biology
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. land — ground
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. cell — a phone
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. kick — in football
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. present — there
  24. last — final

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