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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. roll — a cake
  3. bat — the animal
  4. club — a group
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. roll — a list
  14. club — for dancing
  15. rush — hurry
  16. bulb — for light
  17. club — for golf
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. pound — a weight
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bat — in an idiom

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