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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. shower — to wash
  4. swing — in golf
  5. spell — letters
  6. root — of a plant
  7. root — of a word
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. swing — music
  11. shower — rain
  12. root — the cause
  13. clip — for paper
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. clip — a video
  17. swing — to play on
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spell — magic
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. clip — to cut
  24. lie — to recline

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