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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. spell — letters
  3. kid — child
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. spell — a short time
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. staff — employees
  13. pit — a hole
  14. staff — employees
  15. spell — magic
  16. staff — a stick
  17. bark — to shout
  18. pitcher — in baseball

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