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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. present — a gift
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. present — there
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. race — the arms race
  7. pit — in a race
  8. hand — help
  9. sharp — clever
  10. race — a contest
  11. present — the time now
  12. march — music
  13. hand — in cards
  14. race — humankind
  15. pit — a hole
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. perch — the fish
  20. bark — to shout
  21. march — the month
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. march — the month

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