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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spring — the season
  3. content — the amount
  4. spring — of water
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bark — to shout
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. mine — for digging
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. ball — a great time
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. content — happy
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. last — final
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. last — finally
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. ball — a dance
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. last — to go on

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