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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. cue — for pool
  6. ball — a great time
  7. chest — a box
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bark — to shout
  10. tear — to rip
  11. race — a contest
  12. net — in sport
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. chest — of your body
  15. race — the arms race
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cue — a hint
  18. net — after costs
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. race — humankind
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. cue — a signal
  23. tear — from crying
  24. ball — a dance

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