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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. saw — the tool
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. spell — letters
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. game — wild animals
  9. dip — to sink
  10. bark — to shout
  11. last — to go on
  12. spell — magic
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. race — the arms race
  16. spell — a short time
  17. saw — the tool
  18. last — final
  19. last — finally
  20. game — a match
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. race — a contest
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. straw — a straw man

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