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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. march — music
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. staff — employees
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. march — the month
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bark — to shout
  17. staff — a stick
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. wound — an injury
  20. staff — employees
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. march — the month
  24. shower — rain

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