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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  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. ball — a great time
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. hand — help
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. wound — an injury
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. pit — a hole
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. bark — to shout
  11. wound — an injury
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. ball — a dance
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. cell — a phone
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cell — in biology
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  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