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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — to shout
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bat — the animal
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. mug — to rob
  14. board — to get on
  15. cue — for pool
  16. mug — a face
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. board — a committee
  20. mug — a cup
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cue — a signal
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. bat — in an idiom

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