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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. ground — the earth
  4. band — a ring
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. ground — crushed
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bat — the animal
  12. ground — a position
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. kick — in football
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. bark — to shout
  21. shower — rain
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. kick — a thrill

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