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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. track — to keep track
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. dip — to sink
  7. hand — help
  8. track — a song
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — for digging
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. clip — a video
  13. bark — to shout
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. track — a path
  17. fall — to drop
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. clip — to cut
  22. fall — to drop
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bark — of a tree

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