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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 124 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bark — to shout
  3. snap — to click
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. ground — a position
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. ground — crushed
  8. pit — in a race
  9. band — a music group
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. pit — a hole
  16. band — a ring
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. kid — child
  24. ground — the earth

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