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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 116 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 · land · lean · bark · ruler · present · bat · mine

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. bat — the animal
  5. present — the time now
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. present — a gift
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. land — ground
  11. lean — to bend
  12. land — to come down
  13. mine — for digging
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. present — there
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. land — a country
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. bat — for baseball

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