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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. pit — a hole
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. wind — moving air
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. key — in music
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wound — an injury
  19. key — the most important part
  20. wind — moving air
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. wound — an injury
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. pit — in a race

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