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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 116 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bark — to shout
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. hand — help
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. band — a music group
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. wake — a trail
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. hand — in cards
  21. band — a ring
  22. fork — in a road
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. fork — a garden tool

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