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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 116 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. land — ground
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. spell — magic
  10. land — a country
  11. bark — to shout
  12. land — to come down
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. perch — the fish
  16. tear — from crying
  17. ball — a dance
  18. tear — from crying
  19. ball — a great time
  20. spell — letters
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. spell — a short time
  24. perch — for a bird

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