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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. chest — a box
  8. swing — to play on
  9. sharp — clever
  10. chest — of your body
  11. swing — in golf
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. bark — to shout
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. swing — music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. chest — of your body
  24. tear — to rip

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