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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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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. spell — letters
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cap — a lid
  5. bark — to shout
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cap — a hat
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. suit — clothes
  11. cap — of ice
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. row — a line
  16. prune — to trim
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — a short time
  19. hand — in cards
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. hand — help
  22. row — to paddle
  23. suit — to fit
  24. bark — of a tree

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