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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. cold — not warm
  3. lie — to recline
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mate — to breed
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bear — the animal
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. bear — the animal
  12. mug — a cup
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mug — to rob
  17. band — a music group
  18. mug — a face
  19. band — a ring
  20. mate — a friend
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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