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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. spring — the season
  4. squash — the sport
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. spring — a coil
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bark — to shout
  16. row — a line
  17. bat — the animal
  18. spring — of water
  19. pit — in a race
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. squash — to crush
  22. sharp — clever
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. pit — a hole

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