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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 116 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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cue — a hint
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. sharp — clever
  10. shower — to wash
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. net — after costs
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. net — in sport
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. pit — in a race
  18. cue — a signal
  19. shower — rain
  20. rash — a series
  21. net — for catching
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. cue — for pool

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