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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. saw — the tool
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bark — to shout
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. hand — in cards
  8. drill — the tool
  9. drill — a practice
  10. saw — the tool
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. drill — army training
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. pit — a hole
  15. pit — in a race
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. hand — help

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