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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. ground — a position
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. cell — a phone
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. foot — a measure
  10. present — a gift
  11. game — a match
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bark — to shout
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — the earth
  17. cell — in biology
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. present — the time now
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cell — in a prison
  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