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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. shower — to wash
  3. saw — the tool
  4. board — to get on
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. court — of law
  7. staff — a stick
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. board — a committee
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. court — for sport
  15. staff — employees
  16. court — of a king
  17. cold — an illness
  18. shower — rain
  19. staff — employees
  20. stem — to come from
  21. saw — the tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. board — a flat piece

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