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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cue — a hint
  4. drill — army training
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. net — in sport
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. net — for catching
  10. drill — the tool
  11. perch — the fish
  12. hand — help
  13. cue — a signal
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. cap — a lid
  16. bark — to shout
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. hand — in cards
  19. mine — for digging
  20. cap — of ice
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cap — a hat
  23. drill — a practice
  24. net — after costs

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