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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 bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. hand — help
  3. squash — to crush
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. bark — to shout
  10. cell — a phone
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. squash — the sport
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. mark — a trace
  16. sharp — clever
  17. mark — a grade
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. cell — in biology

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