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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — the season
  8. craft — a skill
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. craft — boats
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. roll — a cake
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. roll — a list
  17. bark — to shout
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. snap — to click
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. date — the fruit
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. spring — of water

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