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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: suit · bark · straw · pop · lie · chest · snap · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. snap — to click
  3. suit — to fit
  4. pop — soda
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. lie — to recline
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. wound — an injury
  11. suit — in cards
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. chest — of your body
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. chest — of your body
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. suit — clothes
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — to visit
  21. chest — a box
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. lie — an untruth

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