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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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468
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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bark — to shout
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. hand — help
  16. wind — moving air
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. squash — the sport
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. squash — to crush
  21. date — the fruit
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. pitch — completely

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