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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. content — the amount
  3. face — part of the head
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. chip — for betting
  6. rest — a break
  7. face — to confront
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. swing — to play on
  10. chip — to eat
  11. row — to paddle
  12. swing — in golf
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. swing — music
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. face — to point toward
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rest — what's left
  19. wound — an injury
  20. rest — what's left
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. content — happy
  24. row — a line

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