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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.

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: ground · straw · sharp · safe · squash · club · cold · bark

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. ground — a position
  5. cold — not warm
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. club — for golf
  9. ground — the earth
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — clever
  12. bark — to shout
  13. club — for dancing
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. squash — to crush
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. club — a group
  20. cold — an illness
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. ground — crushed
  24. squash — the sport

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