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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. drill — army training
  4. drill — a practice
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. race — a contest
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. net — for catching
  10. race — humankind
  11. wound — an injury
  12. lean — to bend
  13. bark — to shout
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. net — after costs
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. net — in sport
  18. wound — an injury
  19. lean — thin
  20. drill — the tool
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. race — the arms race
  24. bark — of a tree

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