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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: hide · track · lean · hand · march · bark · land · ground

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. lean — thin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. march — music
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. land — ground
  7. land — a country
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. march — the month
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. track — to keep track
  12. ground — the earth
  13. land — to come down
  14. track — a path
  15. ground — a position
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. hand — help
  18. bark — to shout
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. hand — in cards
  22. march — the month
  23. lean — to bend
  24. hand — part of the body

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