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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. lie — to recline
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. game — wild animals
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. field — for sport
  11. ground — crushed
  12. row — a line
  13. ground — the earth
  14. last — final
  15. last — finally
  16. row — to paddle
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. last — to go on
  20. bark — to shout
  21. snap — to click
  22. ground — a position
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. game — a kind of play

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