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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. spell — a short time
  3. date — the fruit
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. snap — to click
  6. spell — magic
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. pop — to visit
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. branch — a division
  13. spell — letters
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. pop — soda
  18. pop — music
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bark — to shout
  24. branch — 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