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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: wake · land · pound · bark · saw · spring · spell · club

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. spring — the season
  3. spell — letters
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pound — a weight
  6. saw — the tool
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. club — a group
  9. wake — a trail
  10. spring — a coil
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. saw — the tool
  13. land — ground
  14. spell — magic
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. spell — a short time
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. spring — of water
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. club — for dancing
  23. bark — to shout
  24. club — for golf

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