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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pound — a weight
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. squash — the sport
  5. cold — not warm
  6. squash — to crush
  7. drill — army training
  8. wind — moving air
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wind — moving air
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bark — to shout
  23. drill — the tool
  24. pound — to hit hard

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