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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. pit — in a race
  4. tube — a container
  5. cell — a phone
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bark — to shout
  9. file — a tool
  10. club — for golf
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. club — for dancing
  14. cell — in biology
  15. club — a group
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. pit — a hole
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a word
  20. root — of a plant
  21. file — a document
  22. chair — a leader
  23. tube — the underground
  24. file — a line of people

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