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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. present — there
  3. present — a gift
  4. pit — in a race
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. snap — to click
  7. spell — magic
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. spell — letters
  10. staff — employees
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. march — the month
  13. staff — a stick
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. staff — employees
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pit — a hole
  19. march — music
  20. bark — to shout
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. spell — a short time
  24. present — the time now

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