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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 120 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. ball — a dance
  3. row — to paddle
  4. spell — letters
  5. rest — what's left
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. spell — magic
  8. pop — music
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. rest — a break
  13. game — wild animals
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. game — a match
  16. rest — what's left
  17. row — a line
  18. bark — to shout
  19. spell — a short time
  20. pop — soda
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. ball — a great time
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. perch — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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