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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 116 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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — a position
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. hand — help
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — the animal
  10. hand — in cards
  11. scale — in music
  12. face — part of the head
  13. bark — to shout
  14. scale — size or range
  15. perch — the fish
  16. ground — the earth
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — to confront
  21. dip — to sink
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — for a bird

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