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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. game — a match
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. drill — the tool
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. game — wild animals
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. drill — army training
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. content — happy
  17. snap — to click
  18. content — the amount
  19. bark — to shout
  20. kick — in football
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. content — videos and posts

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