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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. swing — to play on
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. swing — in golf
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. squash — to crush
  8. bark — to shout
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. bat — the animal
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. swing — music
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. row — a line
  24. kick — in football

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