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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bat — the animal
  4. drill — army training
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mark — a trace
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bark — to shout
  14. squash — to crush
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. hand — help
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. drill — the tool
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bear — the animal

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