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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. mate — a partner
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pop — soda
  6. pop — music
  7. suit — in cards
  8. plane — a tool
  9. bark — to shout
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. mate — a friend
  12. chest — of your body
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — help
  16. pop — to visit
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. chest — of your body
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. chest — a box
  21. suit — clothes
  22. suit — to fit
  23. snap — to click
  24. plane — an aircraft

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