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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. object — to protest
  3. mate — a partner
  4. row — to paddle
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. drill — a practice
  8. mate — to breed
  9. object — a thing
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. mate — a friend
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. object — an aim
  14. chest — a box
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. drill — army training
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pound — a weight
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. row — a line
  23. bark — to shout
  24. drill — the 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