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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — to shout
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. tear — from crying
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. snap — to click
  10. bear — the animal
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. net — in sport
  14. tear — to rip
  15. mug — a face
  16. net — for catching
  17. bear — the animal
  18. tear — from crying
  19. mug — a cup
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. cold — an illness
  22. net — after costs
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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