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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 116 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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. field — farmland
  7. race — humankind
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. field — for sport
  10. bark — to shout
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. race — a contest
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. spell — letters
  17. plane — a tool
  18. spell — magic
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cue — a hint
  21. race — the arms race
  22. spell — a short time
  23. cue — for pool
  24. field — a subject

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