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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. fall — the season
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bat — the animal
  5. tube — a container
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. mark — a trace
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. mark — a grade
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. wound — an injury
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. bark — to shout
  24. tube — in a tire

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