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

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. game — wild animals
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. fall — to drop
  6. drill — army training
  7. rock — music
  8. game — a match
  9. bark — to shout
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. fall — the season
  12. rock — a stone
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. drill — a practice
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. drill — the tool
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. bark — of a tree

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