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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. land — to come down
  4. row — to paddle
  5. land — a country
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. race — the arms race
  9. row — a line
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cap — a hat
  12. wax — to grow
  13. land — ground
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bark — to shout
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. race — humankind
  20. cap — a lid
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. race — a contest

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