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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  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. tear — to rip
  2. bark — to shout
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. shower — rain
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. sharp — clever
  9. game — a match
  10. shower — to wash
  11. court — of law
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. tear — from crying
  16. game — wild animals
  17. court — of a king
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. court — for sport
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. tear — from crying
  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