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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. land — to come down
  6. chair — a leader
  7. bark — to shout
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. land — a country
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. stem — to come from
  17. swing — in golf
  18. land — ground
  19. swing — music
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. swing — to play on
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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