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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. band — a ring
  7. rule — government
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. track — a path
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. rule — a law
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. band — a music group
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. kick — in football
  17. track — a song
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. bark — to shout
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a lid
  23. track — to keep track
  24. arm — part of the body

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