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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. key — in music
  4. cold — not warm
  5. spell — letters
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. spell — magic
  12. key — for a lock
  13. mate — a friend
  14. cold — an illness
  15. snap — to click
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. key — the most important part
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. spell — a short time
  23. march — music
  24. bark — to shout

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