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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. bass — low music
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. plane — a tool
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bass — the fish
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. kid — child
  16. chest — a box
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. kid — to tease
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. swing — music

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