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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. fine — high quality
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. ground — the earth
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hand — help
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. cold — an illness
  11. ground — a position
  12. fall — to drop
  13. shower — to wash
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. hand — in cards
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fine — all right
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. shower — rain
  21. cold — not warm
  22. fall — the season
  23. ground — crushed
  24. bark — to shout

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