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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. craft — boats
  7. row — to paddle
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. row — a line
  10. track — to keep track
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. cell — a phone
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. mine — for digging
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. track — a path
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cell — in biology
  24. track — a song

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