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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. pit — in a race
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. root — the cause
  6. land — to come down
  7. root — of a word
  8. bark — to shout
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. land — ground
  13. land — a country
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. pit — a hole
  16. file — a tool
  17. wound — an injury
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. file — a document
  22. spring — of water
  23. file — a line of people
  24. root — of a plant

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