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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. bark — to shout
  3. snap — to click
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. field — a subject
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. wind — moving air
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. squash — to crush
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. field — for sport
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. wind — moving air
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. field — farmland
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. squash — the sport
  24. wind — to turn a key

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