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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. last — final
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — the fruit
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. ground — a position
  11. bore — to tire
  12. last — to go on
  13. ground — crushed
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bark — to shout
  18. last — finally
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — soda
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. pop — to visit

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