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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. sharp — clever
  7. snap — to click
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. charge — electricity
  14. net — after costs
  15. bark — to shout
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. charge — in control
  18. march — music
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. fork — in a road
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. charge — a price
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — in sport

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