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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. ball — a great time
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spell — letters
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. ball — a dance
  11. bear — the animal
  12. face — part of the head
  13. spell — magic
  14. content — happy
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. content — the amount
  19. spell — a short time
  20. face — to confront
  21. face — to point toward
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bat — the animal
  24. mark — a trace

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