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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. stem — to come from
  3. row — to paddle
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. ball — a dance
  8. game — wild animals
  9. pitch — completely
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. ball — a great time
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. row — a line
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. wound — an injury
  22. game — a match
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bark — to shout

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