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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cue — a signal
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. bark — to shout
  8. hand — in cards
  9. roll — a list
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. file — a document
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. track — to keep track
  15. file — a tool
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. track — a path
  19. file — a line of people
  20. hand — help
  21. cue — a hint
  22. wound — an injury
  23. track — a song
  24. roll — a cake

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