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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. net — in sport
  7. cold — not warm
  8. net — for catching
  9. hand — in cards
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. cell — in biology
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. tube — a container
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. hand — help
  19. sharp — clever
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. tube — the underground
  22. net — after costs
  23. wave — with your hand
  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