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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. can — a tin
  4. cap — a lid
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. hand — help
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. can — a tin
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. land — a country
  17. cap — of ice
  18. can — to be able to
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. mine — for digging
  22. shower — rain
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. cap — a hat

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