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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. wound — an injury
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. current — happening now
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. stem — to come from
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cue — for pool
  15. wound — an injury
  16. current — of water
  17. bark — to shout
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. cue — a hint
  20. tear — from crying
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. tear — from crying
  23. current — electric
  24. bat — in an idiom

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