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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: stand · chest · bark · fine · spell · bat · mug · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mug — a face
  4. land — to come down
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — to shout
  10. chest — a box
  11. spell — letters
  12. mug — to rob
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fine — high quality
  15. stand — to bear
  16. land — ground
  17. fine — all right
  18. spell — a short time
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. spell — magic
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. mug — a cup

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