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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 120 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. shower — to wash
  3. kid — child
  4. squash — the sport
  5. foot — a measure
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — to shout
  9. firm — decided
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. row — to paddle
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. spell — a short time
  15. squash — to crush
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — rain
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. firm — steady
  20. spell — magic
  21. spell — letters
  22. kid — to tease
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. firm — a company

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