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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. file — a document
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. fall — to drop
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. capital — money
  13. bark — to shout
  14. rock — music
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. file — a tool
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. rock — a stone
  20. fall — the season
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. chair — a leader
  24. capital — a city

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