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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 116 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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. last — to go on
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. face — to point toward
  5. bark — to shout
  6. face — part of the head
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. prune — to trim
  10. spring — of water
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. spring — the season
  16. last — final
  17. face — to confront
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. last — finally
  22. spring — a coil
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. mouse — for a computer

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