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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 112 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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bear — the animal
  4. file — a tool
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bark — to shout
  7. hand — in cards
  8. last — to go on
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. last — final
  11. game — wild animals
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. file — a document
  14. hand — help
  15. mug — to rob
  16. game — a match
  17. file — a line of people
  18. mug — a cup
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. bear — the animal
  22. mug — a face
  23. last — finally
  24. hand — part of the body

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