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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. row — a line
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — a coil
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. object — to protest
  7. shower — to wash
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. object — a thing
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. shower — rain
  13. bound — tied together
  14. sharp — clever
  15. bark — to shout
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bound — obliged
  18. object — an aim
  19. row — to paddle
  20. spring — of water
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bound — certain
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. sharp — with an edge

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