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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. last — final
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. band — a ring
  7. bound — certain
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. chip — to eat
  10. bound — tied together
  11. last — to go on
  12. band — a music group
  13. game — wild animals
  14. object — a thing
  15. last — finally
  16. chip — for betting
  17. object — to protest
  18. game — a match
  19. object — an aim
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. chip — in a computer

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