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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wake — a trail
  3. file — a line of people
  4. hand — in cards
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. scale — in music
  8. bark — to shout
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. file — a tool
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. file — a document
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. scale — size or range
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. squash — to crush
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. dip — to sink

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