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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — help
  3. shower — rain
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wind — moving air
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. wind — moving air
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. prune — to trim
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bark — to shout
  22. mine — for digging
  23. shower — to wash
  24. mine — belonging to me

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