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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. wound — an injury
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. land — to come down
  10. bark — to shout
  11. branch — a division
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. sharp — clever
  18. land — a country
  19. land — ground
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. dip — to sink
  24. ruler — for measuring

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