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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. kid — to tease
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. face — to point toward
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. perch — the fish
  13. hand — help
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. face — to confront
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. face — part of the head
  23. bark — to shout
  24. perch — for a bird

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