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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: arm · wound · tube · file · snap · bear · root · bark

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. tube — the underground
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. snap — to click
  9. file — a tool
  10. tube — a container
  11. root — the cause
  12. wound — an injury
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. file — a document
  15. root — of a plant
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bear — the animal
  18. root — of a word
  19. file — a line of people
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. bark — to shout
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. bear — to put up with

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