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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. lie — to recline
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. last — finally
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. mine — for digging
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cold — not warm
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. bark — to shout
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. kick — in football
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. last — to go on
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. last — final
  24. rush — hurry

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