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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pound — a weight
  13. spring — the season
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. spring — a coil
  16. scale — in music
  17. cap — a lid
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. stand — to bear
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bat — the animal
  23. cap — a hat
  24. cap — of ice

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