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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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. temple — a place of worship
  3. chest — of your body
  4. snap — to click
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. face — part of the head
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. chest — a box
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pound — a weight
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. face — to confront
  20. chest — of your body
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. kid — to tease
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. pound — to hit hard

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