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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. bark — to shout
  6. wound — an injury
  7. roll — a cake
  8. prune — to trim
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitch — completely
  15. wound — an injury
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. field — a subject
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. ball — a great time
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — for sport

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