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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. ground — crushed
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. rush — hurry
  5. game — a match
  6. bark — to shout
  7. roll — a list
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. ground — the earth
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. ground — a position
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. game — wild animals
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. roll — a cake
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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