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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mark — a grade
  5. mark — a trace
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. squash — to crush
  8. ground — a position
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. ground — crushed
  11. spring — of water
  12. present — there
  13. present — the time now
  14. ground — the earth
  15. snap — to click
  16. spring — a coil
  17. wind — moving air
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. bark — to shout
  21. spring — the season
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. present — a gift
  24. wind — moving air

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