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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. game — wild animals
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. squash — to crush
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bark — to shout
  11. face — to confront
  12. face — to point toward
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. spell — magic
  15. face — part of the head
  16. spell — letters
  17. ball — a great time
  18. cell — a phone
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. spell — a short time
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. ball — a dance
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cell — in biology

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