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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. face — part of the head
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mug — a cup
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. mug — a face
  7. mug — to rob
  8. saw — the tool
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. rash — a series
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. face — to confront
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. face — to point toward
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rash — hasty
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bark — to shout
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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