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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. bark — to shout
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. lie — to recline
  8. rush — hurry
  9. mine — for digging
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bat — the animal
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. spring — of water
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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