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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. pop — to visit
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cue — for pool
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — a practice
  11. pop — music
  12. bark — to shout
  13. clip — a video
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cue — a signal
  17. scale — in music
  18. ball — a dance
  19. pop — soda
  20. drill — army training
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. ball — a great time
  24. clip — for paper

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