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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. deal — to handle
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a ring
  9. rest — a break
  10. band — a music group
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. rest — what's left
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. hand — in cards
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. rest — what's left
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. shower — rain
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. bark — to shout
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. deal — an agreement

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