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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: bark · last · rule · hide · land · charge · hand · spring

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hand — help
  4. rule — government
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — a country
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. land — ground
  10. last — finally
  11. spring — of water
  12. charge — electricity
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. last — final
  15. last — to go on
  16. charge — in control
  17. rule — a law
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — to shout
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. spring — the season
  24. hand — in cards

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