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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. bark — to shout
  3. present — a gift
  4. mug — a face
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. game — wild animals
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. present — the time now
  10. present — there
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. cue — for pool
  13. mug — to rob
  14. chest — of your body
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. mug — a cup
  19. cue — a signal
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a 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