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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. current — of water
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. lie — to recline
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. current — happening now
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. wake — a trail
  11. spell — magic
  12. current — electric
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. bark — to shout
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. kid — child
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — letters
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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