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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — a match
  5. key — in music
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cold — not warm
  11. key — for a lock
  12. mate — to breed
  13. chest — a box
  14. mate — a partner
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. game — wild animals
  20. mate — a friend
  21. key — the most important part
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bark — to shout
  24. cold — the Cold War

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