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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. snap — to click
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. march — the month
  9. stem — to come from
  10. bark — to shout
  11. march — music
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. shower — to wash
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. march — the month
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — for betting
  20. mine — for digging
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. shower — rain
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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