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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. race — a contest
  3. tube — the underground
  4. last — final
  5. scale — in music
  6. last — finally
  7. shower — rain
  8. tube — a container
  9. season — of the year
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. race — the arms race
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. pass — a permit
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. season — in sport
  18. scale — size or range
  19. last — to go on
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. race — humankind
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. shower — to wash

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