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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  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. bark — to shout
  2. present — there
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. staff — employees
  6. cold — an illness
  7. court — for sport
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. row — a line
  11. court — of law
  12. staff — employees
  13. present — a gift
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bass — the fish
  19. present — the time now
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. row — to paddle
  22. court — of a king
  23. bass — low music
  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