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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. squash — to crush
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. rule — a law
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. lie — to recline
  14. rule — government
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. cell — in biology
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. squash — the sport
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chair — a leader
  23. game — a match
  24. chair — a professorship

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