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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. fall — to drop
  3. drill — army training
  4. fall — the season
  5. net — after costs
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. mark — a grade
  8. last — final
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. fall — to drop
  12. tube — the underground
  13. mark — a trace
  14. net — for catching
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. last — to go on
  17. tube — a container
  18. bark — to shout
  19. last — finally
  20. net — in sport
  21. row — to paddle
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. row — a line
  24. drill — the tool

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