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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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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: bore · straw · key · wound · saw · bark · bat · cell

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. key — for a lock
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cell — in biology
  8. saw — the tool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bat — the animal
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. key — the most important part
  15. key — in music
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bore — to drill

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