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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
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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: mug · land · track · hand · pop · bark · spring · plane

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. mug — to rob
  3. pop — to visit
  4. hand — help
  5. track — a song
  6. spring — the season
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. track — to keep track
  9. land — ground
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. mug — a cup
  13. track — a path
  14. pop — soda
  15. spring — of water
  16. mug — a face
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. land — a country
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. land — to come down
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — of a tree

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