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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — soda
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. craft — boats
  14. plane — a tool
  15. chair — a leader
  16. craft — a skill
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. pop — music
  20. bark — to shout
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. craft — a handicraft

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