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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. fall — the season
  8. fall — to drop
  9. lean — thin
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. snap — to click
  16. bark — to shout
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. lean — to bend
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. pit — in a race
  21. fall — to drop
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. pit — a hole
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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