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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. snap — to click
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. bass — the fish
  11. cell — a phone
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. bass — low music
  17. pitch — completely
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — tied together
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cell — in biology
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. bark — to shout

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