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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 120 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: bear · bark · rule · snap · present · chest · spring · march

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. march — the month
  3. rule — government
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — to shout
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. present — the time now
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. snap — to click
  11. march — music
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. rule — a law
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bear — the animal
  18. spring — of water
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. present — a gift
  21. chest — of your body
  22. march — the month
  23. chest — a box
  24. present — there

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