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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rock — a stone
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. rest — a break
  14. bark — to shout
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bore — to drill
  19. rock — music
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. bore — to tire
  23. wake — a trail
  24. game — a match

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