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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: bark · spring · land · hand · cell · last · chair · can

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. chair — a leader
  4. land — to come down
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. last — to go on
  7. cell — a phone
  8. hand — help
  9. can — to be able to
  10. bark — to shout
  11. last — finally
  12. land — a country
  13. land — ground
  14. can — a tin
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. cell — in biology
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — the season
  21. can — a tin
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. last — final
  24. hand — part of the body

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