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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 116 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. board — a committee
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. fall — the season
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. bark — to shout
  12. board — to get on
  13. fall — to drop
  14. hand — in cards
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. hand — help
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pitcher — in baseball

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