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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 120 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. drill — the tool
  3. firm — steady
  4. game — a match
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. firm — decided
  9. bark — to shout
  10. ground — the earth
  11. hand — in cards
  12. ground — a position
  13. scale — size or range
  14. kick — in football
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. scale — in music
  17. ground — crushed
  18. firm — a company
  19. drill — army training
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. hand — help
  22. drill — a practice
  23. game — wild animals
  24. scale — for weighing

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