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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bass — the fish
  3. game — a match
  4. face — part of the head
  5. field — farmland
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. field — for sport
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bass — low music
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. bark — to shout
  15. tube — the underground
  16. face — to confront
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. hand — in cards
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. hand — help
  22. field — a subject
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. tube — a container

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