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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. drill — a practice
  3. bark — to shout
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. sharp — clever
  7. date — the fruit
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. file — a document
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. file — a tool
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. file — a line of people

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