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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: wound · ground · saw · club · present · bat · net · bark

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. club — for dancing
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. present — the time now
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bark — to shout
  9. net — after costs
  10. wound — an injury
  11. present — there
  12. saw — the tool
  13. net — for catching
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. ground — crushed
  16. present — a gift
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. net — in sport
  21. club — a group
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — the earth

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