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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 120 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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. last — to go on
  8. spell — letters
  9. row — to paddle
  10. last — final
  11. row — a line
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. season — of the year
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — a short time
  19. ground — a position
  20. season — in sport
  21. bark — to shout
  22. ground — crushed
  23. last — finally
  24. ground — the earth

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