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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. sharp — clever
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. snap — to click
  7. tear — to rip
  8. face — to point toward
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. bark — to shout
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. stem — to come from
  13. face — part of the head
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. fine — all right
  16. tear — from crying
  17. land — to come down
  18. tear — from crying
  19. land — ground
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. face — to confront
  22. fine — high quality
  23. land — a country
  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