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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. land — to come down
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. land — ground
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. face — to confront
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. face — to point toward
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. face — part of the head
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. land — a country
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. snap — to click
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. bark — to shout
  24. racket — for tennis

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