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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. perch — the fish
  4. ground — crushed
  5. spell — letters
  6. ground — the earth
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. board — a committee
  10. spell — a short time
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. spell — magic
  13. tear — from crying
  14. ground — a position
  15. pound — a weight
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bark — to shout
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. board — to get on
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. bat — the animal
  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