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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. chair — a leader
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. hand — in cards
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. land — a country
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bark — to shout
  15. hand — help
  16. mark — a trace
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. land — to come down
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. mark — a grade
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pitch — completely

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