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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. spring — the season
  3. land — ground
  4. chest — of your body
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. craft — a skill
  8. craft — boats
  9. land — a country
  10. land — to come down
  11. spring — of water
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. chest — a box
  15. bark — to shout
  16. present — the time now
  17. chest — of your body
  18. present — there
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — a stick
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. present — a gift
  24. spring — a coil

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