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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 120 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. field — a subject
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. ball — a dance
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bark — to shout
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. ball — a great time
  14. field — farmland
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bound — tied together
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. field — for sport
  23. bound — certain
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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