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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. mate — to breed
  3. spell — magic
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. spell — a short time
  6. rest — a break
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rest — what's left
  9. spell — letters
  10. bass — low music
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. court — for sport
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. court — of a king
  17. wound — an injury
  18. mate — a friend
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bark — to shout
  22. mate — a partner
  23. court — of law
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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