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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 120 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pitch — completely
  4. spring — of water
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. wound — an injury
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. kid — child
  12. bark — to shout
  13. spring — the season
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — goods
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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