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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. charge — electricity
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bass — low music
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. march — music
  8. prune — to trim
  9. sharp — clever
  10. charge — in control
  11. charge — a price
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. march — the month
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. march — the month
  21. deal — to handle
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. snap — to click

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