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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 120 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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. staff — employees
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. staff — a stick
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. craft — boats
  10. staff — employees
  11. game — a match
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bark — to shout
  14. wind — moving air
  15. craft — a skill
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. file — a tool
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. wind — moving air
  20. snap — to click
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. hand — help
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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