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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 120 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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. shower — rain
  4. chest — of your body
  5. drill — a practice
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. wound — an injury
  8. chest — of your body
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. drill — the tool
  13. plane — a tool
  14. chest — a box
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. row — to paddle
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. bark — to shout
  22. drill — army training
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. row — a line

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