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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bulb — for light
  5. rock — a stone
  6. bulb — for light
  7. spell — letters
  8. kick — in football
  9. suit — in cards
  10. cold — not warm
  11. suit — to fit
  12. rock — music
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bark — to shout
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. spell — magic
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. spell — a short time
  24. suit — clothes

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