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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. fall — to drop
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. field — a subject
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. bark — to shout
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. wake — a trail
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. rush — hurry
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. fall — the season
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. fall — to drop
  22. capital — money
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. capital — a city

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