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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. clip — to cut
  5. key — the most important part
  6. bark — to shout
  7. chest — a box
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. key — for a lock
  13. wound — an injury
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. clip — for paper
  16. club — a group
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. club — for golf
  20. clip — a video
  21. key — in music
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. club — for dancing
  24. nail — on a finger

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