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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 116 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 ________________ took off on time.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. bark — to shout
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. net — after costs
  6. cold — not warm
  7. net — in sport
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. tear — to rip
  11. kick — in football
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cap — a lid
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cap — of ice
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. cold — an illness
  21. tear — from crying
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. net — for catching
  24. plane — a tool

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