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

Word bank: saw · cell · snap · cold · bark · bank · rest · squash

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. snap — to click
  6. bank — for money
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. squash — the sport
  14. saw — the tool
  15. bank — for money
  16. rest — what's left
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — to crush
  19. cold — an illness
  20. rest — a break
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bank — of a river
  24. cell — in biology

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