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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 116 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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468
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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. band — a ring
  3. season — of the year
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bark — to shout
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. season — in sport
  14. band — a music group
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. snap — to click
  21. perch — the fish
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. perch — for a bird

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