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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. lean — to bend
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. board — a committee
  11. spring — the season
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bark — to shout
  15. clip — for paper
  16. spring — of water
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. clip — a video
  19. board — to get on
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. lean — thin
  22. spring — a coil
  23. shower — rain
  24. hide — to keep secret

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