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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 120 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitch — completely
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. wind — moving air
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. snap — to click
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. bark — to shout
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — a practice
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. drill — the tool

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