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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. scale — size or range
  4. toast — bread
  5. land — to come down
  6. scale — in music
  7. lean — to bend
  8. wound — an injury
  9. spring — the season
  10. land — a country
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — of water
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. lean — thin
  23. bark — to shout
  24. land — ground

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