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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. face — to confront
  3. tear — from crying
  4. spell — magic
  5. cold — an illness
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. bark — to shout
  8. spell — a short time
  9. face — to point toward
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. root — of a word
  12. branch — a division
  13. tear — to rip
  14. spell — letters
  15. face — part of the head
  16. root — the cause
  17. kick — in football
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. root — of a plant
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. tear — from crying

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