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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 was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cell — in biology
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. rush — hurry
  9. roll — a list
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. ground — a position
  12. bark — to shout
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. roll — a cake
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. cell — a phone
  22. ground — the earth
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. straw — a straw man

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