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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. roll — a cake
  5. wake — a trail
  6. rule — a law
  7. deal — to handle
  8. net — after costs
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — for digging
  11. field — a subject
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. net — in sport
  14. rule — government
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. roll — a list
  18. bark — to shout
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. field — farmland
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. field — for sport
  23. net — for catching
  24. roll — on a roll

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