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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. fall — the season
  3. chip — to eat
  4. fall — to drop
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. tear — to rip
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. fall — to drop
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. bark — to shout
  16. tube — a container
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tear — from crying
  20. ball — a great time
  21. cold — not warm
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. ball — a dance
  24. chip — for betting

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