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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. hand — help
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bass — the fish
  11. land — ground
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. hand — in cards
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — a country
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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