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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. ground — the earth
  6. band — a music group
  7. ground — a position
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. rush — hurry
  11. track — a song
  12. bark — to shout
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. deal — to handle
  18. cold — not warm
  19. track — a path
  20. cold — an illness
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. band — a ring
  23. track — to keep track
  24. ground — crushed

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