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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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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: mine · cabinet · bat · bark · kid · rule · pop · sharp

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. kid — child
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. rule — a law
  6. sharp — clever
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. rule — government
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pop — soda
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. bark — to shout
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. mine — for digging
  23. pop — music
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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