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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. track — a song
  4. fine — high quality
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. fine — all right
  9. saw — the tool
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. chest — a box
  14. pound — a weight
  15. key — the most important part
  16. key — in music
  17. saw — the tool
  18. chest — of your body
  19. key — for a lock
  20. track — to keep track
  21. bark — to shout
  22. shower — rain
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. track — a path

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