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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bark — to shout
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. cell — a phone
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. deal — to handle
  7. land — to come down
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. cell — in biology
  10. land — ground
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. game — wild animals
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. land — a country
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bat — the animal
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pound — to hit hard

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