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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  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. ball — a dance
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. drill — the tool
  6. ball — a great time
  7. drill — a practice
  8. mine — for digging
  9. chest — of your body
  10. scale — in music
  11. present — a gift
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bark — to shout
  15. chest — a box
  16. present — the time now
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. ground — a position
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. scale — size or range
  21. ground — the earth
  22. chest — of your body
  23. drill — army training
  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