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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: hand · firm · bark · bay · present · chip · land · pitcher

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. chip — to eat
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. hand — in cards
  7. land — to come down
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. chip — for betting
  12. present — there
  13. bark — to shout
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. land — ground
  16. firm — decided
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. firm — steady
  19. present — the time now
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. land — a country
  22. firm — a company
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. hand — help

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