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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. key — for a lock
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. fall — the season
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. fall — to drop
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — in music
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. bark — to shout
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. fall — to drop
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. key — in music
  21. wake — a trail
  22. sharp — clever
  23. pitch — completely
  24. key — the most important part

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