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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. vault — a safe
  4. wound — an injury
  5. roll — a list
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a line
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. roll — a cake
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. drill — the tool
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — army training
  24. patient — a sick person

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