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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · cold · mine · leaves · cell · bark · lash · land

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. land — ground
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cold — an illness
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — to shout
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cold — not warm
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. land — a country
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. game — wild animals
  21. land — to come down
  22. mine — for digging
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. mine — an explosive

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