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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bore — to tire
  4. game — wild animals
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bark — to shout
  10. firm — decided
  11. game — a match
  12. firm — a company
  13. swing — music
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. swing — to play on
  17. pop — to visit
  18. kid — child
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — soda
  21. cold — not warm
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cold — an illness
  24. firm — steady

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