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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. lean — thin
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. kid — child
  8. cell — a phone
  9. spring — of water
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. race — humankind
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. cell — in biology
  20. race — a contest
  21. lean — to bend
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — of a tree

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