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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bulb — for light
  5. shower — rain
  6. content — happy
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. track — to keep track
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. date — the fruit
  13. track — a song
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bulb — for light
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. track — a path
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. content — the amount

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