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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 116 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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. present — a gift
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. rash — hasty
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. content — the amount
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. key — the most important part
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. content — happy
  14. mine — for digging
  15. rash — a series
  16. present — the time now
  17. key — for a lock
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bark — to shout
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. present — there

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