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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 116 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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. shower — rain
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. field — for sport
  11. shower — to wash
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bulb — for light
  15. tear — to rip
  16. field — a subject
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bass — low music
  19. spring — of water
  20. tear — from crying
  21. spring — the season
  22. field — farmland
  23. pitch — completely
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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