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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. tear — from crying
  3. fine — all right
  4. cap — a hat
  5. kid — to tease
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. kid — child
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. spell — magic
  11. fork — in a road
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. cap — of ice
  15. spell — letters
  16. tear — from crying
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. fine — high quality
  21. tear — to rip
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. spell — a short time
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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