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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: present · snap · drill · sharp · cold · wake · spell · bark

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. spell — a short time
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. present — there
  5. drill — the tool
  6. present — a gift
  7. drill — a practice
  8. spell — letters
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. snap — to click
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. sharp — clever
  15. spell — magic
  16. drill — army training
  17. cold — an illness
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — a trail
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. present — the time now

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