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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. spring — of water
  5. bark — to shout
  6. shower — rain
  7. scale — size or range
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. spell — magic
  10. shower — to wash
  11. scale — in music
  12. object — an aim
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cold — an illness
  16. object — a thing
  17. spell — letters
  18. tube — a container
  19. spell — a short time
  20. object — to protest
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. tube — the underground
  24. cold — not warm

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