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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 116 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. mate — a partner
  3. cell — a phone
  4. swing — music
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. hand — help
  7. mate — a friend
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. mate — to breed
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. swing — to play on
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. hand — in cards
  14. drill — a practice
  15. bound — obliged
  16. bound — tied together
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. swing — in golf
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bound — certain
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. drill — army training
  23. bark — to shout
  24. drill — the tool

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