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

Word bank: chest · cue · racket · bark · fork · swing · row · hand

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. row — to paddle
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. hand — in cards
  8. swing — to play on
  9. chest — of your body
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bark — to shout
  12. fork — in a road
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cue — for pool
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. hand — help
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. chest — a box
  19. swing — music
  20. cue — a signal
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. row — a line
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. swing — in golf

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