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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. swing — in golf
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. land — to come down
  8. wind — moving air
  9. swing — music
  10. land — a country
  11. bark — to shout
  12. spell — a short time
  13. wind — moving air
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. land — ground
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. swing — to play on
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — magic
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. game — wild animals

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