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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bark — to shout
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. land — to come down
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. perch — the fish
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. squash — to crush
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. pitch — completely
  13. land — ground
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. squash — the sport
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. plane — a tool
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. land — a country
  22. hand — in cards
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. hand — part of the body

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