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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. object — an aim
  3. hand — help
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. row — a line
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. cap — a hat
  9. object — to protest
  10. snap — to click
  11. row — to paddle
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. hand — in cards
  15. season — of the year
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cap — a lid
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. object — a thing
  20. bark — to shout
  21. rest — a break
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. season — in sport

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