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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. cell — in biology
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. game — a match
  11. cue — for pool
  12. bark — to shout
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. cue — a signal
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. cell — a phone
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. band — a ring
  21. sharp — clever
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. game — wild animals
  24. hide — animal skin

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