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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. track — to keep track
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. suit — clothes
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. suit — to fit
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. perch — the fish
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. bore — to drill
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pound — a weight
  17. track — a song
  18. suit — in cards
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. cold — an illness
  23. track — a path
  24. bark — of a tree

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