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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. bark — to shout
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. club — for dancing
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. fork — in a road
  9. shower — rain
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. club — for golf
  12. kick — in football
  13. snap — to click
  14. sharp — clever
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. shower — to wash
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. kick — with a leg

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