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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: plane · land · roll · bound · bark · spring · deal · wind

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. deal — to handle
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bound — certain
  8. roll — a list
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — the season
  11. bark — to shout
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. wind — moving air
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. land — a country
  16. bound — obliged
  17. land — to come down
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bound — tied together
  20. roll — a cake
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. plane — a tool
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. spring — a coil

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