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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 120 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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rash — a series
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bat — the animal
  8. rash — hasty
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. chest — a box
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. pitch — completely
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. wound — an injury
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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