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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mark — a trace
  5. mark — a grade
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. date — the fruit
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. chest — of your body
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. chest — a box
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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