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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · bass · fan · game · ruler · chest · kick · sharp

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. game — a match
  3. sharp — clever
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bass — low music
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. kick — in football
  11. chest — a box
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. game — wild animals
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bark — to shout
  24. fan — a supporter

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