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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. roll — a cake
  3. game — a match
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. chest — of your body
  6. roll — a list
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. chest — of your body
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stand — to bear
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. chest — a box
  22. bark — to shout
  23. prune — to trim
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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