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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. lean — thin
  5. last — finally
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bulb — for light
  9. cold — not warm
  10. last — final
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. tear — to rip
  13. scale — size or range
  14. lean — to bend
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. cold — an illness
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — in music
  20. bulb — for light
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. last — to go on
  24. tear — from crying

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