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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. fall — to drop
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fall — to drop
  5. tube — a container
  6. bark — to shout
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fall — the season
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. last — to go on
  12. tube — the underground
  13. root — of a plant
  14. spell — a short time
  15. root — the cause
  16. last — finally
  17. spell — letters
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. spell — magic
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. root — of a word
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. safe — a strongbox

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