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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. saw — the tool
  4. drill — the tool
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — to shout
  7. swing — in golf
  8. saw — the tool
  9. cue — a signal
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. swing — music
  13. drill — a practice
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cue — a hint
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. content — the amount
  18. drill — army training
  19. cue — for pool
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. swing — to play on
  23. perch — the fish
  24. pound — a weight

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