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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. snap — to click
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cue — a hint
  5. row — a line
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. bear — the animal
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. cue — for pool
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cue — a signal
  17. cell — in biology
  18. row — to paddle
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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