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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. snap — to click
  3. bark — to shout
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. row — a line
  6. ground — a position
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. bore — to drill
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. foot — a measure
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. row — to paddle
  16. stem — to come from
  17. file — a document
  18. ground — crushed
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. file — a line of people
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. file — a tool
  24. stem — a stem cell

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