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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bark — to shout
  11. tube — the underground
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. spring — of water
  15. branch — a division
  16. bore — to drill
  17. game — a match
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. game — wild animals
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. spring — the season
  23. tube — a container
  24. branch — of a tree

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