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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. bark — to shout
  3. net — after costs
  4. hand — help
  5. tube — the underground
  6. net — for catching
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. hand — in cards
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — a match
  15. craft — boats
  16. tube — a container
  17. net — in sport
  18. season — in sport
  19. season — of the year
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. craft — a skill
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. hand — part of the body

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