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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. ball — a great time
  3. spring — the season
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. deal — to handle
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. spring — of water
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. ball — a dance
  18. field — farmland
  19. spring — a coil
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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