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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. club — a group
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bark — to shout
  7. spring — the season
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. row — to paddle
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. bass — the fish
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. spring — of water
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. club — for golf
  18. club — for dancing
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bass — low music
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. leaves — of a tree

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