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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. bark — to shout
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. scale — in music
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. cold — an illness
  9. land — a country
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. ground — a position
  12. land — ground
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. wound — an injury
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. scale — size or range
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wound — an injury
  22. ground — the earth
  23. land — to come down
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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