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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. toast — bread
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. key — the most important part
  5. pit — in a race
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. chair — a leader
  12. key — for a lock
  13. key — in music
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. wax — to grow
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. game — a match
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. game — wild animals
  24. pit — a hole

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