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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. game — wild animals
  3. hand — help
  4. mug — to rob
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. file — a tool
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bass — the fish
  10. mug — a face
  11. hand — in cards
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. firm — decided
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. mug — a cup
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. firm — steady
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. firm — a company
  21. bark — to shout
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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