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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. present — the time now
  5. wound — an injury
  6. spring — of water
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stand — to bear
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. present — a gift
  16. bark — to shout
  17. present — there
  18. net — for catching
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wound — an injury
  22. net — in sport
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. net — after costs

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