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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. last — to go on
  4. deal — to handle
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. spring — the season
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bore — to tire
  13. last — final
  14. spring — a coil
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bark — to shout
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spring — of water
  20. last — finally
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bore — to drill

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