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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. field — for sport
  4. face — to confront
  5. chip — to eat
  6. hand — in cards
  7. spell — letters
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bark — to shout
  12. hand — help
  13. face — part of the head
  14. field — farmland
  15. chip — for betting
  16. spell — magic
  17. bass — low music
  18. field — a subject
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. face — to point toward
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. bass — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. spell — a short time

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