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

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bass — low music
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. present — the time now
  6. present — there
  7. bark — to shout
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. stand — to bear
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bass — the fish
  18. present — a gift

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