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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 has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. game — a match
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. bat — the animal
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — help
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. bark — to shout
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. wake — a trail

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