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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. march — the month
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. rock — a stone
  6. wind — moving air
  7. content — the amount
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. land — ground
  12. rock — music
  13. march — the month
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. row — a line
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. content — happy
  18. land — to come down
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. bark — to shout
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — to paddle
  23. march — music
  24. land — a country

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