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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. rule — government
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. field — a subject
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. hand — in cards
  8. saw — the tool
  9. hand — help
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. rule — a law
  12. bark — to shout
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. snap — to click
  17. bound — tied together
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bound — certain
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. saw — the tool
  24. calf — a young animal

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