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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. drill — army training
  4. squash — to crush
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. swing — to play on
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. swing — music
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — happy
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bark — to shout
  14. wound — an injury
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. drill — the tool
  18. squash — the sport
  19. wound — an injury
  20. swing — in golf
  21. drill — a practice
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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