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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. mine — for digging
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bark — to shout
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. fall — the season
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. fine — high quality
  14. spring — of water
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. spring — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. fine — all right
  22. scale — in music
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. scale — size or range

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