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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. shower — to wash
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bark — to shout
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. chair — a leader
  8. ground — crushed
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. game — a match
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. kick — in football
  14. squash — the sport
  15. ground — a position
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. ground — the earth
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. mine — for digging
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. shower — rain
  24. squash — to crush

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