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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. pound — a weight
  3. fall — to drop
  4. court — for sport
  5. field — for sport
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. tear — from crying
  12. court — of a king
  13. field — farmland
  14. tear — to rip
  15. field — a subject
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. court — of law
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. tear — from crying
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. pound — for dogs

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