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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. snap — to click
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bound — tied together
  7. tube — a container
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bound — certain
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. hand — help
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tube — the underground
  15. race — humankind
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bark — to shout
  18. prune — to trim
  19. shower — rain
  20. race — a contest
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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