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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. file — a tool
  3. key — in music
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. game — wild animals
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. roll — a list
  9. roll — a cake
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. key — for a lock
  13. key — the most important part
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. game — a match
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. foot — a measure
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. tear — from crying

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