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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. rock — a stone
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bark — to shout
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. spring — a coil
  8. drill — the tool
  9. rock — music
  10. spring — the season
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. squash — the sport
  15. content — the amount
  16. sharp — clever
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. drill — army training
  19. content — happy
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. spring — of water
  22. drill — a practice
  23. squash — to crush
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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