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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. land — ground
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pit — in a race
  8. bark — to shout
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. cold — an illness
  11. current — electric
  12. land — a country
  13. wind — moving air
  14. current — of water
  15. current — happening now
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bear — the animal
  19. wind — moving air
  20. lie — to recline
  21. land — to come down
  22. pit — a hole
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. cold — the Cold War

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