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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. lean — thin
  3. squash — to crush
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — in football
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. squash — the sport
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — of water
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. cold — an illness
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. lean — to bend
  22. cold — not warm
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. spring — a coil

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