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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. tear — from crying
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. swing — in golf
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. foot — a measure
  10. tear — from crying
  11. game — wild animals
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. file — a line of people
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bass — the fish
  18. swing — to play on
  19. swing — music
  20. bark — to shout
  21. file — a tool
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. file — a document

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