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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. fine — all right
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. hand — help
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wind — moving air
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. game — a match
  13. wind — moving air
  14. fine — high quality
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — wild animals
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bark — to shout

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