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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. track — a path
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rule — a law
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. stand — to bear
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. rest — a break
  12. rest — what's left
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. rule — government
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. track — to keep track
  18. bat — the animal
  19. track — a song
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bark — to shout
  24. row — a line

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