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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've got to change the light ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. rock — a stone
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. land — to come down
  6. bore — to tire
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cold — an illness
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. bore — to drill
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. land — ground
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. bark — to shout
  18. branch — a division
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bulb — for light
  22. cold — not warm
  23. land — a country
  24. rock — music

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