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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. 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. last — finally
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. craft — a skill
  5. craft — boats
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. row — a line
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. spring — of water
  13. last — to go on
  14. game — a match
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. spring — the season
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. spring — a coil
  20. game — wild animals
  21. dip — to sink
  22. last — final
  23. row — to paddle
  24. 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