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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. tube — a container
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. scale — in music
  9. shower — rain
  10. tube — the underground
  11. file — a tool
  12. chair — a leader
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. shower — to wash
  15. file — a line of people
  16. scale — size or range
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. rest — a break
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. rest — what's left
  22. file — a document
  23. rest — what's left
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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