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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. land — to come down
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. wound — an injury
  7. present — there
  8. present — a gift
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wound — an injury
  11. land — a country
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. file — a tool
  17. land — ground
  18. present — the time now
  19. file — a line of people
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. file — a document

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