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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. perch — the fish
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. cold — not warm
  8. snap — to click
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. lean — thin
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bark — to shout
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. season — of the year
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. season — in sport
  22. cold — an illness
  23. lean — to bend
  24. cold — the Cold War

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