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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. roll — a cake
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. wound — an injury
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. date — the fruit
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — to shout
  22. roll — a list
  23. branch — a division
  24. bat — the animal

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