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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. prune — to trim
  3. face — part of the head
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. race — a contest
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. race — the arms race
  12. prune — to trim
  13. dip — to sink
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wind — moving air
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. wind — moving air
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. face — to confront
  21. face — to point toward
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. race — humankind
  24. bowl — a football final

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