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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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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: row · land · tear · pit · wave · band · face · bark

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. band — a ring
  3. row — to paddle
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. bark — to shout
  6. tear — from crying
  7. face — to confront
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. band — a music group
  10. land — ground
  11. tear — to rip
  12. face — part of the head
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. tear — from crying
  15. row — a line
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — in a race
  20. land — to come down
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. face — to point toward
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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