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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. bark — to shout
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. net — in sport
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. kid — child
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. march — the month
  13. bat — the animal
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. march — music
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. net — after costs
  23. march — the month
  24. bear — the animal

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