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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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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. bark — to shout
  4. key — for a lock
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. club — for dancing
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. club — for golf
  11. key — the most important part
  12. club — a group
  13. game — wild animals
  14. wind — moving air
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. key — in music

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