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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. squash — the sport
  3. cue — a hint
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. squash — to crush
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. land — ground
  9. cue — for pool
  10. spell — magic
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cue — a signal
  13. fine — high quality
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. spell — letters
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — to shout
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — for digging
  20. land — to come down
  21. spell — a short time
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. land — a country
  24. fine — all right

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