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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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Word bank
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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. land — ground
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. land — to come down
  8. pit — in a race
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cue — for pool
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. rock — a stone
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cue — a hint
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cue — a signal
  22. pit — a hole
  23. bark — to shout
  24. land — a country

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