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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. chip — to eat
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. content — the amount
  8. prune — to trim
  9. fall — to drop
  10. tear — to rip
  11. content — happy
  12. fall — the season
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. chip — for betting
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. bark — to shout
  17. tear — from crying
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. prune — to trim
  23. game — wild animals
  24. leaves — lets stay

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