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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  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 — of a tree
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. field — farmland
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. snap — to click
  12. field — a subject
  13. bark — to shout
  14. rush — hurry
  15. vault — a safe
  16. cold — an illness
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. cold — not warm
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. field — for sport
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  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