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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. bark — to shout
  4. mine — for digging
  5. spell — magic
  6. suit — in cards
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. suit — to fit
  10. swing — to play on
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bass — the fish
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — a short time
  18. game — a match
  19. pound — a weight
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. suit — clothes
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. bass — low music

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