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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. drill — a practice
  7. march — music
  8. swing — in golf
  9. hand — in cards
  10. swing — music
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. dip — to sink
  15. swing — to play on
  16. mark — a grade
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — army training
  19. bark — to shout
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. mark — a trace
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wound — an injury

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