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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. kid — child
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. kid — to tease
  7. ground — crushed
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. ball — a dance
  10. race — humankind
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wound — an injury
  14. ball — a great time
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. race — a contest
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. wound — an injury
  23. race — the arms race
  24. nail — for a hammer

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