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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 hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. mark — a trace
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. saw — the tool
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. saw — the tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. stem — to come from
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bat — the animal
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. mark — a grade
  19. bark — to shout
  20. scale — size or range
  21. cold — not warm
  22. scale — in music
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. mark — to pay attention

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