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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. root — of a plant
  6. swing — music
  7. chest — of your body
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. root — of a word
  11. root — the cause
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. mine — for digging
  17. sharp — clever
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. swing — in golf
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. chair — a leader
  23. swing — to play on
  24. bark — to shout

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