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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bark — to shout
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. last — finally
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. wound — an injury
  8. last — to go on
  9. kid — to tease
  10. shower — to wash
  11. key — the most important part
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. key — in music
  15. ball — a great time
  16. last — final
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. key — for a lock
  19. kid — child
  20. ball — a dance
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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