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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 · pitcher · bowl · bound · spring · mine · face · ground

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ground — crushed
  3. bound — tied together
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bound — obliged
  6. mine — for digging
  7. face — to confront
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. bound — certain
  13. bark — to shout
  14. face — part of the head
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. face — to point toward
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. spring — the season
  22. ground — a position
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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