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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 120 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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. cell — in biology
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. root — of a word
  7. tear — to rip
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. shower — rain
  14. root — the cause
  15. root — of a plant
  16. tear — from crying
  17. shower — to wash
  18. board — to get on
  19. board — a committee
  20. perch — the fish
  21. bark — to shout
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cell — a phone

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