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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. cold — an illness
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. cold — not warm
  9. branch — a division
  10. bark — to shout
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. plane — a tool
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. spring — a coil
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. spring — the season
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. spring — of water

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