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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  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. mouse — the animal
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. game — wild animals
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cue — a signal
  10. game — a match
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cue — a hint
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cue — for pool
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bear — the animal
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. bark — to shout

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