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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  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. bark — of a tree
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. shower — to wash
  6. shower — rain
  7. court — of a king
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. court — of law
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. court — for sport
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. wind — moving air
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. wake — a trail
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. cabinet — ministers
  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