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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 120 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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. present — a gift
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — low music
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bark — to shout
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. present — the time now
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. kid — child
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mate — a partner
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mate — a friend
  24. fork — a garden tool

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