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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bore — to tire
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bat — the animal
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. fork — in a road
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. bore — to drill
  21. bark — to shout
  22. fall — the season
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bat — in an idiom

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