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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. craft — boats
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. hand — help
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. bark — to shout
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — hasty
  13. craft — a skill
  14. rash — a series
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. hand — in cards

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