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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. kid — child
  3. mug — to rob
  4. spell — a short time
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. bark — to shout
  7. wound — an injury
  8. press — newspapers
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. mug — a face
  13. object — an aim
  14. mug — a cup
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. press — a publisher
  17. object — a thing
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. press — to push
  20. spell — letters
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kid — to tease
  24. spell — magic

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