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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. mine — for digging
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. charge — electricity
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. row — to paddle
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. row — a line
  18. sharp — clever
  19. tube — a container
  20. perch — the fish
  21. charge — in control
  22. charge — a price
  23. cold — an illness
  24. sharp — with an edge

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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