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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. rush — hurry
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. roll — a cake
  5. spring — a coil
  6. cue — a signal
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. cue — for pool
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. roll — a list
  13. pound — a weight
  14. cue — a hint
  15. spring — the season
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. spring — of water
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. kid — to tease
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. kid — child
  23. bark — to shout
  24. leaves — 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