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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. ground — a position
  3. bark — to shout
  4. wound — an injury
  5. perch — the fish
  6. hand — help
  7. press — a publisher
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. ground — the earth
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. chest — a box
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. spell — letters
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spell — magic
  18. ground — crushed
  19. spell — a short time
  20. chest — of your body
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. wound — an injury
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — to push

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