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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. lean — to bend
  5. season — in sport
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. sharp — clever
  10. wound — an injury
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. season — of the year
  13. net — for catching
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. net — after costs
  16. date — the fruit
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. net — in sport
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. bark — to shout
  22. lean — thin
  23. date — on the calendar
  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