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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. rash — a series
  5. kick — in football
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. mug — a cup
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rash — hasty
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. race — the arms race
  14. spell — magic
  15. race — a contest
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bark — to shout
  18. spell — letters
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. mug — a face
  22. spell — a short time
  23. race — humankind
  24. mug — to rob

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