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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — the season
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. mug — to rob
  9. kid — child
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. wind — moving air
  14. net — after costs
  15. mug — a cup
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. stock — shares
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. stock — goods
  21. net — for catching
  22. mug — a face
  23. kid — to tease
  24. net — in sport

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