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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. net — after costs
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bark — to shout
  10. net — for catching
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. date — the fruit
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. wound — an injury
  17. net — in sport
  18. dip — to sink

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