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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. roll — a list
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. land — a country
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. land — to come down
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. dip — to sink
  14. bark — to shout
  15. roll — a cake
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wound — an injury
  19. shower — rain
  20. land — ground
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. wind — moving air
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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