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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 will it ________________ you to start?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bark — to shout
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cell — a phone
  8. swing — to play on
  9. suit — in cards
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. wind — moving air
  13. suit — clothes
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. lean — to bend
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — in biology
  20. lean — thin
  21. mine — for digging
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. swing — music

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