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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cap — a hat
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a line
  8. key — for a lock
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. ground — the earth
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. key — the most important part
  13. snap — to click
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. ground — crushed
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. ground — a position
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. key — in music

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