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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wind — moving air
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. mug — a cup
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. stock — shares
  10. chest — of your body
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. chest — a box
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. mug — to rob
  22. bark — to shout
  23. pound — a weight
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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