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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. sharp — clever
  3. hand — in cards
  4. kid — child
  5. hand — help
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a partner
  9. kid — to tease
  10. foot — a measure
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. rule — a law
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. mate — a friend
  15. rule — government
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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