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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. cap — a lid
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. chip — for betting
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. race — the arms race
  11. season — in sport
  12. cap — of ice
  13. bear — the animal
  14. race — humankind
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. race — a contest
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. chip — to eat
  21. bark — to shout
  22. season — of the year
  23. cap — a hat
  24. bear — the 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