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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. hand — help
  4. swing — to play on
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. staff — employees
  7. fork — in a road
  8. board — a committee
  9. content — happy
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. staff — a stick
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. staff — employees
  17. content — the amount
  18. swing — music
  19. hand — in cards
  20. spell — letters
  21. bark — to shout
  22. board — to get on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. spell — a short time

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