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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'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. firm — a company
  7. court — for sport
  8. face — to point toward
  9. bark — to shout
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. row — a line
  15. face — to confront
  16. court — of a king
  17. face — part of the head
  18. row — to paddle
  19. court — of law
  20. firm — decided
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. perch — the fish
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. perch — for a bird

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