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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 ________________ took off on time.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. land — to come down
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cue — a hint
  6. fall — to drop
  7. land — ground
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cue — a signal
  12. bark — to shout
  13. fall — the season
  14. cue — for pool
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. cap — a lid
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cap — of ice
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. plane — a tool
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. land — a country
  24. plane — in geometry

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