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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bark — to shout
  6. mate — to breed
  7. row — a line
  8. foot — a measure
  9. game — wild animals
  10. row — to paddle
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. key — for a lock
  16. cold — an illness
  17. kick — in football
  18. mate — a partner
  19. key — the most important part
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. game — a match
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. mate — a friend

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