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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 120 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. suit — to fit
  4. row — a line
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — to shout
  10. foot — a measure
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. suit — in cards
  16. cold — an illness
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. row — to paddle
  20. suit — clothes
  21. cold — not warm
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. row — a quarrel

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