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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. bark — to shout
  4. wound — an injury
  5. race — humankind
  6. date — the fruit
  7. race — the arms race
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. court — of a king
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. court — for sport
  16. race — a contest
  17. last — final
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. court — of law
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — finally
  24. pitcher — a jug

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