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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. snap — to click
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. bark — to shout
  5. net — after costs
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cold — an illness
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. craft — boats
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. craft — a skill
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. net — in sport
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. cold — not warm
  24. net — for catching

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