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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. march — the month
  6. swing — to play on
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. land — a country
  10. march — the month
  11. land — to come down
  12. deal — to handle
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. swing — music
  22. land — ground
  23. swing — in golf
  24. march — 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