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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. content — happy
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. land — to come down
  7. club — for dancing
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. land — ground
  10. content — the amount
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. club — for golf
  14. land — a country
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. game — a match
  17. club — a group
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. squash — to crush
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bark — to shout
  24. chair — a leader

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