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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wound — an injury
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. bark — to shout
  6. pop — music
  7. land — ground
  8. saw — the tool
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. pop — soda
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. land — a country
  17. pop — to visit
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. wind — moving air
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. wound — an injury
  24. saw — the tool

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