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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 is an ace ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. tear — from crying
  3. fork — in a road
  4. scale — in music
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. scale — size or range
  7. roll — a list
  8. bark — to shout
  9. spring — the season
  10. tear — to rip
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spring — a coil
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. roll — a cake
  20. spring — of water
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. bat — 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