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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 sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. cap — a lid
  4. ground — a position
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. pit — in a race
  7. cap — a hat
  8. pit — a hole
  9. cap — of ice
  10. ground — the earth
  11. fall — the season
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. wind — moving air
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bark — to shout
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — a video
  20. ground — crushed
  21. fall — to drop
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. snap — to click
  24. bark — of a tree

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