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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: bark · snap · sharp · toast · kid · file · plane · bay

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. kid — to tease
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. file — a tool
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. toast — bread
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. bark — to shout
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a document
  20. sharp — clever
  21. plane — a tool
  22. kid — child
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — with an edge

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