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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. hand — in cards
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bat — the animal
  12. row — a line
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. hand — help
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bass — low music
  22. bark — to shout
  23. row — to paddle
  24. hand — part of the body

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