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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mine · key · field · bark · ground · nail · clip · pound

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. field — farmland
  3. key — for a lock
  4. ground — crushed
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. clip — to cut
  8. mine — for digging
  9. field — a subject
  10. clip — a video
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. ground — the earth
  14. key — in music
  15. field — for sport
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. clip — for paper
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. key — the most important part
  21. ground — a position
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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