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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. chip — for betting
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. perch — the fish
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bark — to shout
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. chip — to eat
  11. stem — to come from
  12. net — in sport
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. march — the month
  15. wind — moving air
  16. march — the month
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. pitch — completely
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. march — music

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