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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. bulb — for light
  5. shower — rain
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ball — a dance
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bark — to shout
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bulb — for light
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. ball — a great time
  22. cell — in biology
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. bark — of a tree

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