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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. bark — to shout
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. key — the most important part
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. key — for a lock
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. tube — a container
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — the fish
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. key — in music
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wind — to turn a key

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