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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. bark — to shout
  8. rush — hurry
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. swing — to play on
  12. cold — an illness
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — in golf
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pit — in a race
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. dip — to sink
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. leaves — to go away

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